Scales
by DragonKaw
Summary: Panicked breaths. Shadowed footsteps. Ashen hands. Violet eyes. Something's lurking in the forest at night, and not even Ruka knows what it is. But he's about to find out. Ch. 8: "I trust you, but I don't trust it. You should get away from that thing."
1. Risen by Night

The first time he saw it…

It was dark. Quiet. Untouchable. It was always watching, yet never truly there.

But that would all change.

* * *

Ruka usually spent Friday nights tending to the nocturnal animals in the Northern Forest. Since the Middle School Division was so far east, it usually took a handful of minutes just to get there. It was around midnight when he left the dormitories, but now he had no idea how long he'd been out.

For once, the animals weren't demanding his attention. Usually, they'd crowding him so much he couldn't move without stepping on a squirrel's tail. But now it was different.

Any tremble in the shadows would be followed by a critter fleeing for its life. When Ruka tried using his Alice on them, the stench of fear swamped him, but he couldn't bring himself to force them to obey his pheromones. What if he was in their shoes? It would be too cruel.

That was why he'd been spending the last however-many hours wandering the Northern Forest in the dead of night without anyone knowing where he was. He was looking for answers.

The darkness oozed fear, but he ignored it. The scent of pinecones was enough comfort to keep him going. Gravel crunched underneath his shoes, too harsh against the deathly silence, like iron grating against steel. Every footstep was an explosion.

Was he too loud? Was that why he couldn't find any more animals? Maybe it wasn't. In that case, he'd run into the thing scaring them all off in the first place.

He wasn't scared… well, not really. Ruka had been teased about his Alice more than once, but he knew how to use it. Years of practice only strengthened his power. With his best pheromones, no animal would turn against him.

Ruka frowned. The path had ended. There was no more gravel to follow. Just him and the uneven earth.

And then, light.

It wasn't the moon—no, not at all. It was a quick flicker of light—white shining light, just at the edge of his vision. Well, there went his train of thought.

Maybe they were scales, Ruka thought. But it looked really large. He didn't know anything with scales that was that big. Maybe it was some sort of large lizard? A crocodile or an alligator? No, there wasn't any lakes or rivers nearby. A python or boa? It couldn't be that. The lights were too far from the ground.

Whatever it was, Ruka hoped that it wasn't eating any other animals. His heart skipped a beat for some reason. What was that… fear? No, it couldn't be. He had no reason to be afraid. Right?

Seconds passed. The thing caught his eye once more. This time he was disturbed. Was the thing following him? Yes, it had to be. The back of his neck itched. He had the vague image of eyes. Eyes, two eyes boring into him as he looked away. Their color? Shape? He had no idea.

There was definitely something there. Just out of reach, barely out of sight, teasing him with its presence. But he could fix that, right? He had his Alice. That would solve everything. Then maybe his heart would stop thudding so much. It was starting to hurt. Really, it should stop that.

Ruka sent out a handful of pheromones. _Peace,_ they said. _Come on out. It's okay._

Nothing happened.

His heart stumbled. Ice settled in his veins. Why wasn't it working? His effort went to shambles. He didn't even feel the thing. His pheromones just floated out, then… gone. Shaken off like nothing.

He broke into a half-run, part confident that he was safe, part frightened of the thought that he was being hunted. He was nearly fourteen now. For half of his life, he'd been practicing his ability. At a certain point, almost no animal had tried to hurt him.

It was alright. He was okay. He was safe. Nothing would go wrong. He just had to keep dishing out the pheromones. The thing would eventually give up. Yes, everything would be fine.

Right?

The light flicked again, closer this time. Too close.

Ruka threw himself into a run. His imagination burst into fireworks. A titanic snake with the mind of a murderer? A wolf, his back plated with metal, hungry for flesh? A low-flying raptor with shimmering talons, ready to rip at his throat?

It was ridiculous. Completely and utterly ridiculous. Why was he thinking about this? There was no reason to be afraid. But he couldn't help the images that swarmed into his head.

Sweat trickled down Ruka's forehead. His eyes were heavy from fatigue, and his forehead was tight from worry. Too tired… this was taking too much energy. It had to stop now. But what could he do? His Alice wasn't working. He could only run faster.

He broke into a full sprint. The rustle of leaves followed his wake, but it wasn't him. He knew how to keep quiet in forests. It was too loud. Whatever this thing was, it didn't know how to move between the trees.

Despite that, it never slowed. The sound of feet and scrapes and breaths were always regulated. Always constant. Always the same. Like a shadow. It was always behind him, always at a perfect pace, just a step away. Never far enough to lose him, but not close enough to pounce. Like cat and mouse. Eagle and sparrow.

Predator and prey.

The branches loomed out at him. The leaves tangled in his hair. The roots grabbed at his ankles. The trees grew grinning faces, carved by his terrified mind.

Ruka's lungs had enough. His foot caught on a root. He crashed, stomach slamming against the ground. He floundered blindly, arms bruising against the earth, but it was no use. His legs trembled from weakness. He couldn't even stand.

No voices, human or animal. No owl hooting in the night. Not even a cricket. Nothing to save him. Nothing to help. Ruka lay there frozen, waiting for the thing-in-the-dark to strike.

It didn't.

He lay there until the adrenaline had seeped out of his system. He lay there until his breathing evened out. He lay there until he was relaxed enough to feel tired.

He never heard the thing even budge.

And yet, he knew it was still there. He could hear its breathing, faint but prominent in the unnatural silence. He could feel its eyes fixed on him. Always watching. Invisible.

Slowly, Ruka pulled himself up. His knees trembled. He clutched at the evergreen bark. The trees no longer laughed at him. They were just a delusion created by his mind. A frightening delusion, but still an delusion.

But the scales weren't a delusion.

The eyes on him all the way, Ruka staggered towards the dormitories. He knew the way by heart better than a bird knew how to fly south. But his heart was smarting. His fingers and toes trembled, and not because of cold.

Glimpses of scales followed his every movement.

Seconds were minutes. Minutes were hours. Then Ruka's feet hit the gravel path. Like a checkpoint, he was safe. The feathery breathing ceased. The fleeting light disappeared. The scales were gone.

He didn't stop walking until he had crossed the road that lead to the other schools, until the dormitories were in sight, until he had walked up the stairs and opened the door and locked it tight and shut the window and checked the closet so that he knew nothing could get in, nothing at all. Only when he fell on his bed sheets, clothes dirty and unchanged, did he allow himself to collapse.

* * *

**Last updated 1/13/13.**

**This is technically a prologue, yet I'm classifying it as the first chapter. So, hope you liked it, and expect more because it's already mostly prewritten besides edits. Check my profile for information. Updates are loosely planned to come out one week or less within each other. Depends.**

**Ruka and Hotaru are the main characters of this story. This is a mixed universe. I think. I'm not entirely sure if it matters.**


	2. Safe With Sunlight

In the morning, the first thing Ruka did was look into the mirror. Brown highlighted his eyelids. His cheeks sagged slightly, and his hair had lost its sheen. It looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep at all.

Oh, but he did sleep. The problem was that it was full of nightmares.

Everything was dark. Sightless. He was blind in the night, rushing through the forest, terror shooting through his blood. Something was following him. Mimicking his footsteps, matching his breath, yet never showing itself.

He didn't need a psychiatrist to know what those dreams meant.

Ruka didn't want to go back to sleep. Too many horrors haunted his brain. But he was dead tired. At least it was a Saturday, or laundry day for a lot of students. That included him. He'd do laundry now and maybe take a nap later on. Yeah, that sounded good.

He gathered up his clothes. After a thought, his bed sheets joined them. They were probably dirty from the uniform he wore to bed. He tossed on some casual wear, since all he had that was clean were a white T-shirt, a yellow hoodie with Piyo's face on it (courtesy of Mikan), and a pair of blue jeans.

Ruka didn't see anyone down the stairs, but he figured it was because it was already noon. Saturday was the most popular day for going out. Most people would be in Central Town with their friends, working on projects, training their Alices, or running errands.

He stepped out the dorm. Like it was just waiting for him to come out, the sunlight blasted into Ruka's eyes. He took it as reminder that this was a whole other world, completely separate from what happened last night. It took a while, but the light cleared and Ruka headed on.

The laundry building was peculiar just by existing. Ruka remembered one time he'd been touring the middle school, when the building was just a large storage shed connected to the library. How many years ago was that? He couldn't remember.

In any case, when a student with the Insect Pheromone Alice accidentally called in a bunch of paper-eating moths, the shed got closed off from the rest of the library. It was just there for some time. No one really used it. Until suddenly, overnight, it moved several meters away. Two new walls were added. One covered the library's new hole, and the other was plastered to the new building. It was a messy job, but nothing fell apart.

No one really knew who did it, but when cockroaches were found in the original laundry room, all machinery was transferred to the former shed. It was a strange tale, but this was Alice Academy, after all.

As he finished mulling over the story, Ruka stepped into the laundry building. Cool air blasted against his skin, a welcome greeting. Various students strolled around inside, their quiet chatting blending in with the hum of machinery. One cheerful voice stood out from the others.

"Hi, Ruka-pyon!"

Mikan was carrying an empty laundry basket. She beamed like the ray of sunshine she was. But then, she saw his face. "Ruka-pyon! You look so tired!"

"Um… sorry, Sakura-san. I didn't—"

"Ruka-pyooon," Mikan whined. Her lip trembled in something that could barely be described as a puppy-dog face. It was one of the few things that always made Natsume chuckle. Even though, Mikan could try all she liked; it never really worked on anyone.

…except for Ruka, of course. He smiled sheepishly upon remembering what he said wrong. "Sorry, Mikan-chan," he amended.

She grinned, dropping the silly face. "That's it! So, what were you saying, Ruka-pyon?"

"I didn't sleep that well last night."

Ruka walked over to an unused washing machine. It was old and rusty, but he knew it well. It always did its job reliably. Mikan trailed after him as he shoveled his laundry inside, plopping her basket on the machine next to his. He peered at the laundry cycling inside. His cheeks tinged pink at the sight of polka-dotted underwear. Yep, definitely Mikan's.

"Why not?" she finally asked.

"Huh? Oh, I just had some nightmares…"

Mikan's eyes went big. "Nightmares! But why?"

"Well…"

He wasn't sure whether it would be smart to tell her. He didn't want to scare her or anything, but he also didn't want her wandering into the forest and being caught by that… thing. Besides, if Natsume found out Mikan got hurt by it, he'd burn Ruka to a crisp. Strike that—Ruka would do it to himself first.

"I was out last night. There's a weird scaly thing in the Northern Forest that's spooking all the other animals," he admitted. "I haven't asked them about it yet, though, so… please try to avoid it, Saku—Mikan-chan."

She gasped. "That sounds terrible… do you think I can do anything about it?"

Ruka frowned. "Well… I guess you could tell any of our classmates about it if you see them, so they don't go into the forest. Just in case. But I'm sure it's nothing."

"But you had nightmares about it," Mikan argued.

"I've had plenty of—"

"But it's an animal, isn't it, Ruka-pyon? Why would you have nightmares about an animal?"

Why _would_ he have nightmares about an animal? He'd never had any with the animal being the antagonist. Numerous bad dreams came to mind, making him shudder. But, no… all of the nightmares including animals featured them as victims. Mikan actually had a good point.

"I guess it just gave me a bad scare last night. I'm sure it's nothing," he said.

Mikan's eyes softened. "Okay. But be careful, okay, Ruka-pyon?"

He just nodded.

Surprisingly enough, Mikan remained silent for the next few minutes. The low murmur of students and machines filled the atmosphere. Occasionally, Mikan's lips moved, but whenever Ruka glanced over she was staring into space. So he just stood there, thinking about various things while they waited for their laundry, until Mikan piped up once more.

"I can't tell Hotaru about it, though."

Ruka nearly flinched. Hotaru's blackmailing tendencies had toned down over the years, but her name could still make him cringe. "What about Imai?"

Mikan wrinkled her nose. "She's doing one of her week-long thingies again."

He tilted his head. Over the years he'd known her, Hotaru Imai had reclined more and more frequently into her lab. Sometimes her inventing work grew so demanding, she'd skip a week or two to finish them. Of course, she needed permission and she had to catch up on schoolwork afterwards, but that didn't stop her. Ruka couldn't imagine what kind of sacrifices she had to make for her work. Rather, he didn't want to. He'd sympathize with her more, if only she didn't love showering his life with embarrassment.

Ruka knew about Hotaru's escapades because it guaranteed him privacy for extended periods of time. And by _knew_, he meant _studied. _He'd once seen the boxes of canned crab littered around her room the day before a two-week hide-away… but that was a long story. The point was, these withdrawals weren't unheard of. They typically occurred once every two or three months.

Mikan sniffed. "I tried to find her yesterday, but she was already holed up in her lab."

"I should figure out what's going on with the scaly thing within a week," he comforted her. "Don't worry about Imai."

"I'll try…"

A loud binging noise made them both jump. Mikan looked at her laundry machine. The letters on its screen glowed a mechanical green, proudly announcing that it was "DONE!".

Mikan swung its little white door open and scooped the laundry into her basket. Ruka made a point not to watch. She was apparently a fast digger, because she was done within a minute. She lifted the laundry basket over her head, balancing it with her hands.

Mikan grinned at him. "I'll tell everyone for you, Ruka-pyon! Good luck on figuring it out!" And with that, she skipped out of the building.

He smiled back at her before she left. Natsume was so lucky…

"So there's something in the forest?"

Ruka jumped around. There stood a grinning Koko. Well, of course he was grinning… he always was.

The grin grew wider. "That I am!" Koko slung an arm around Ruka's shoulder, leaning on the blond heavily. "So what's this about a scaly thing?"

"Something in the forest. I just found about it last ni—"

"You mean early this morning?"

"Um, yeah. Why?"

"I'm just updating on the rest of the world, you know?" Koko chuckled. "Permy's got me cooped up in my room, so I can't do much."

Ruka frowned. "Why's that?"

"She thinks I'm sick!" The mind reader threw back his head and laughed. "Can you believe it? There's no way… I could get…. YAAACHOO!"

Ruka shoved him away. "Don't make me catch it!"

"I'm telling you, I'm not—" he sniffed, "—sick, man." Koko looked down at his hand, which was now covered in snot. "Oh, great…"

"KOKORO YOME!" a female voice roared. Sumire stomped into the laundry room. She didn't so much as spare Ruka a glance, for once, as she marched in.

"Well, crap. That's my cue." Koko gave Ruka a sheepish grin, then smacked him on the back (with the clean hand, thankfully) before scrambling out of the building. He ducked under Sumire, whose claw-like fingernails missed him by a whisker's length.

"I SWEAR, KOKO, IF YOU GET RUKA-KUN SICK—"

"I didn't! I didn't! I swear—NOOOO, NOT THE HAIR!"

Ruka watched them run off, then tilted his head. What had just happened?

* * *

It was two in the afternoon when Ruka's laundry finished. Immediately after he'd organized his clothing, he headed outside and towards the path to the Northern Forest.

He wasn't really sure if it was really safe or not. He certainly wasn't eager to go. Regardless of his own emotions, the animals might be in danger. He had no choice but to go. And besides, the sun was out… he'd be able to see better. Right?

Mere seconds after he approached the tree line, a familiar white rabbit sprung from a bush.

"Usagi," Ruka called.

The rabbit hopped over. Ruka braced himself for a confusing conversation. After all, the animals could grasp what Ruka told them pretty well, but when they spoke back, he could usually only make out fragments. Over the years, he'd gotten better with it, but it was still difficult.

It was too bad that most animals weren't intelligent enough to truly speak. Ruka only had a few conversations with those of lesser minds, and those were still pretty choppy. But there were more intelligent animals who tended to be social, especially with Ruka. Speckles the giant golden eagle was one of them. Her mate Goldflakes was much quieter, but just as smart. Piyo was definitely an example of an intelligent Alice-mutated animal, but he communicated mostly through body language.

Ruka wasn't entirely sure about Usagi. Sometimes he made a lot of sense, but other times, he acted more like your average household pet. It got really annoying sometimes. One moment, Ruka was talking with the bunny like an equal, and the next Usagi was off hopping after Anna's new walking carrots. Either way, he seemed to be attempting to communicate now.

The rabbit waved his arms wildly, a gesture taught by Mikan. His foot thumped, his nose twitched, and he squeaked a myriad of pitches, like a mixed morse code.

"_The other animals talking about 'scales',"_ he 'said'. The literal translation was more along the lines of 'differents saying snake-fur,' but Ruka understood it just fine.

"I know, I saw it last night. Did you see it?" Ruka asked worriedly.

"_Lights. Far away,"_ said the rabbit.

"Yeah, same with me. Has it hurt anyone?"

"_One bird."_

Ruka paled. "Is it still alive?"

"_Alive,"_ Usagi confirmed.

"Can you lead me to it?"

Usagi wheeled around and hopped into the underbrush. Ruka scrambled off the path in pursuit. Trees rushed by in their haste. To Ruka, they shot by like bullets. It felt as if he were chasing the bunny in Alice of Wonderland. Who knew what would appear in the rabbit hole?

Their run was interrupted when Ruka stopped upon a person. Natsume was reading a manga under an oak tree. The Fire Alice was leaned up against its trunk and using its roots as a footrest. He looked up at Ruka and frowned. "You look like a wreck."

"Yeah, about that…" He looked towards Usagi desperately, then switched back to Natsume. "Have you heard from Mikan yet?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Heard what?"

"Well, could you go ask her? I really need to go now. There's an injured bird and—"

"Go. I'll find her now," Natsume said. The Fire Alice got to his feet walked away. Ruka sighed in relief and continued following Usagi.

They traveled for a couple more minutes, deeper and deeper into the forest. Relief pooled into Ruka's chest when they stopped upon a clearing. It was a tiny area, only a few meters wide, but with just enough light filtering through the trees for grass to grow. In the center was of a bed of leaves, which cradled a single bird. A lark.

Ruka rushed over and knelt down beside it. Specks of dried blood disturbed the pattern of its plumage. When he parted the feathers on its back, there were two long but shallow claw marks. He felt for its pulse. It was asleep, but far from death.

"Wake up," Ruka mumbled.

The lark's head shot up. A chirrup of panic filled the air. It flailed around like a blind rat, kicking out frantically with its legs and wings. Ruka winced as at its back muscles, which flexed painfully.

"It's okay, I won't hurt you," he whispered, sticking his finger down.

The lark clamped its beak onto Ruka's finger. Just as planned. He shot down a small dose of pheromones. It only took a tiny amount to pacify little birds like this one.

As expected, the bird's eyes went glassy for a moment. When they cleared, it laid its head down peacefully. It understood now.

"_Alive?" _Usagi questioned.

"Definitely alive," Ruka replied. "In fact…"

He lowered his hand to the ground. The lark bounced up on his palm. When he rose it to his face, he could see its scratches clearly.

"The marks are too tiny. Maybe a rat's. That scaly thing was long and tall. It made a lot of noise, too. It's probably be too big to make these marks."

Usagi just tilted his head, obviously confused.

Ruka sighed. "The scaly thing didn't hurt the bird."

The rabbit pointed at the leaves, something he learned from watching Youichi. _"Scale-scent."_

Ruka furrowed his brow. "Uh, what? You mean, maybe… the leaves smell like the scaly thing?"

"_Yes."_

Ruka did a double-take. Why hadn't he wondered where that bed of leaves came from? He really needed to pay more attention to things like this. After all, Usagi wouldn't have thought of it, and even if he did, the rabbit would have 'accidentally' eaten the leaves before they reached the bird.

His mind teetered to a dark possibility. Why would the scaled creature do this? What if the scaled creature had put the bird here to save it for later? Maybe it was out of kindness, but what were the chances of that? And that only brought more questions. Where had this thing come from? Why was Ruka so inherently afraid of its presence? Why was it stalking him?

How smart was this thing, and what were its purposes?

With that, Ruka scooped up Usagi in one arm. "I'm going to have you stay with me tonight, okay?"

The rabbit didn't reply, just stared up at Ruka with beady black eyes.

He trekked out of the forest and towards the area surrounding the dormitories. Ruka passed the laundry room, clipped by the library, and weaved through the paths to a small building at the edge of the grounds' perimeter. It was a quaint little structure, much like a house. The pastel green roof and beige-colored walls brought many memories, good and bad. He walked in confidently.

"Maeda-sama? I have a bird here with a couple—"

The sight that greeted him was most definitely not Maeda-sama. The kind, middle-aged woman with the Healing Alice, who enjoyed helping Ruka with injured animals, was absent. In her place was…

Ruka froze. "Imai? I thought…"

A pair of steely violet eyes bored into him. Black bangs swept over the owner's face, which was framed by… a pair of glasses?

"Nogi," Subaru Imai said flatly.

Ruka's mouth opened and closed like a gasping fish. Eventually, he choked out, "Where's Maeda-sama?"

"She is sick with the flu."

"Oh." Ruka inched towards the desk. "Then, uh… why…?"

"As my overseer, Maeda-san insisted that I take her place for today for this veterinary service." Subaru's eyes fixed on Ruka coldly. The boy frowned; Maeda probably insisted on it, just in case an animal got injured.

"Is there a problem with your rabbit and your bird?" the Imai said impatiently.

"Er… just the bird." He held up the lark. "It has a couple… scratches. I didn't want them to get infected," he added in hastily.

Subaru surveyed the bird coldly. It shivered in Ruka's palm, but he calmed it down with his Alice. Slowly, maybe just to intimidate him, the Imai swept his finger over the bird's back. The scratches stitched themselves in the blink of an eye. It was perfect, like the lark had never been injured.

When it noticed the pain was gone, the lark gave a curious chirp. It flapped its wings experimentally. Then, warbling a simple thanks, it sprung from Ruka's hand. The bird sailed in a smooth arc out the door and into the open sky.

Awkward silence shrouded the room. Usagi fidgeted, even though he was now safe in both of Ruka's arms.

"That was great!" Ruka said quickly. He turned around and started towards the door. "I guess that's it. So, thanks, I think I'll be going no—"

"Stop."

Ruka stopped mid-step. Oh, no. He did something wrong. He knew the wrath of one Imai, but her older brother? The one with the _Pain Alice_? He was doo—

"Have you seen my sister?"

Ruka turned around, flabbergasted. "Huh? Why?"

"A medical industry sent in a request for one of her inventions." Subaru's eyes narrowed. "Her room was under lockdown. I requested entry multiple times, but she never answered. Eventually, I resorted to an emergency access code, but she was not present inside."

Ruka frowned. "Maybe she was restocking on something?"

"Doubtable, but possible," Subaru said. "In any case, the code was single-use only. Report to me if you see her. The medical industry's request must be delivered as soon as possible."

Ruka gulped. "Yes, sir." He beat a hasty retreat.

* * *

**What does Sumire call Ruka and Natsume again? Was it really Ruka-kun and Natsume-kun?**

**Okay… I'm going to get shot for saying this, but. Reviews are loved. Feedback helps me improve. And all that jazz.**


	3. The Riddle Begins

Ruka woke from his nap with rabbit fur tickling his eyelashes. He smiled into his own personal face heater.

It was funny. Last time he slept, he was haunted by endless nightmares. But now he was feeling better than ever. He figured it was because Usagi kept him company. Or maybe because it was daylight.

Emphasis on the _was_.

Ruka lazily turned over, his eyes bulging when he saw his alarm clock. "12:31AM!?" he whisper-screamed.

He'd only meant to sleep a couple hours, but instead his nap had stretched to around seven. He took a glance at Usagi. The rabbit was still deep asleep.

After mourning the death of his sleep schedule, Ruka wriggled out of bed, careful not to disturb Usagi. He headed to the bathroom, slipped on a pair of boots, then exchanged his Piyo jacket for a black one. He wouldn't want to soil Mikan's gift. What if it got dirty like his uniform? He was going to investigate the mystery creature, after all. It was dark out, so maybe it would appear again.

He involuntarily shivered.

Regardless, Ruka made his way down the stairs and out the building. He actually passed a few students when he crossed the street separating the middle and elementary school grounds.

They spoke in closely huddled groups, maybe trying to block off the autumn night's chill. Everyone was smart enough to wear thick jackets and fuzzy boots. They whispered beneath the streetlights, as if speaking too loud would disturb the night. He watched them closely and hoped he wasn't drawing attention.

Ruka's heart nearly stopped. Under one of the lampposts stood the Middle School Division's very own Legendary Couple. Mikan and Natsume's mittened hands were linked. They were so close, their toes touched. A single red scarf were tangled around both their necks. Their eyes seemed locked solely on each other. White plumes of mist fanned into the air when they spoke.

The blond ducked his head and turned away. The bad thing about this jacket was that it didn't have a hood. He'd have to take a slightly longer way to avoid the couple, but it was worth it. He couldn't let them glimpse him. They'd ask why he was coming out so late, and while Ruka could come up with an excuse, he wasn't sure if he could fool Natsume.

It took a few minutes to reach the Northern Forest. Ruka could have called it a leisurely walk if his chest wasn't pounding so hard. Nervousness trickled into his core as he stared at the first root. There was no telling what could happen now. The creature was unpredictable.

That was when it dawned on him. That was why. That was why he was so scared of it. For the first time, there was an animal out there he had no power over or understanding of. The animals felt the same, but they had little cognitive thought. The creature was unknown, and therefore it was an automatic threat. That was why none would help Ruka if the scaled creature attacked. They were all too scared. _He_ was all too scared.

But he went in anyways. It was crazy and reckless and downright stupid, and he knew it. It would have been smarter to go back and bring someone with him. But he didn't, because if he found another injured lark tomorrow morning, Ruka would have to hurt himself. And so, he walked on.

Not a single animal stirred. Even the nocturnal animals were smart enough to hide in their burrows. Ruka applauded their common sense, because he seemed to be lacking any of it tonight.

Seconds turned to minutes, and every minute brought him deeper. Ruka walked and walked until his feet began to ache, begging him to go faster just to end the monotony, but he was too scared too. Until, finally, his boots scraped at the edge of the gravel path. This was it. The end.

He stepped away.

Within seconds after leaving the path, the flickers. Scales, darting in the shade, circling him. But at the first hint of light, Ruka slammed his heels into the ground. He came to an abrupt halt. In a split second, he decided he wasn't going to play a cat and mouse game. Not this time.

"Hello?" he called out into the dark.

There was nothing. Not a sound. Ruka squared his shoulders.

"Hello? I can speak to animals. If you just come out…"

A rustle. A shuffle. Ruka's heart lifted, both from the pooling adrenaline and the response. His legs trembled, itching to run. Which way? He didn't know.

"I really need to talk to you. I don't know what you are, but you're scaring all the other animals."

Movement. Just a little, but still there. Ruka's caught a tall silhouette tucked between the trees. It was pacing back and forth. He glimpsed a slender neck. A tail. Then it stopped, assumingly facing him.

Then, a long hiss. _"…can't talk…"_

Ruka's legs quavered. That sound… it was speech. For the first time, he had heard the creature speak. But something was off. With a jolt, he realized it. But how was it possible?

It was a human voice.

Soft but harsh, raspy yet clear. A spoken sound, not a code, like animal speech tended to be. But it was strangled with effort, like someone had gutted a person's throat, ripped out the vocal cords, and stretched them to torturous lengths. Like it didn't even know what speaking was. And yet, here it was. His chance.

"Can you come out into the light?" he asked. "It'll be easier to talk if I see you."

"_I can't… speak…"_

"That's okay. I can understand a little bit. It's better than nothing."

Slight movement. A whistling breath. Skipping heartbeats. Ruka had to keep from clutching his chest.

Away from the trees and the safety of the dark, the creature finally crept.

The moon was good to him tonight. It was waxing, half full. That was more than enough to see. And yet, at first, the creature's outline was all his baffled blue eyes could discern.

The excess light cleared. The details came into focus. The image came into existence.

It was a dragon.

Its neck was long and arced like a swan's. Its face was lengthy like a muzzle, but pointed like a beak. From the bases of two curved horns grew a pair of equestrian ears. Large, curved spines ran down its neck and its long, whip-like tail. Thick-leathered bat wings were folded against its sides. Its body was lithe yet strong, like a feline's. Sharp claws dug into the ground where it stood.

And then, there were its scales. Each and every one of its scales were black—too dark to be ashy, but too light to be jet. They gleamed violet under the moonlight.

But that wasn't all that was violet… no, not at all.

Its eyes. They were lavender, amethyst, orchid, thistle, wisteria, _purple_—the shade didn't matter. They were a violet he saw all too often, with an aura of intelligence and the look of unreadable complexity. Violet that came with the peculiar scent of metal and the oceanic tang of crab roe.

"Imai?"

The dragon's eyes widened a fraction, just like how Hotaru's would if someone caught her off guard. It was a rarity to behold. And for a second, the shock of certainty was overshadowed by doubt. Would Hotaru Imai be so surprised so easily? Was this some kind of twisted fraud?

His mind leaped to the worst. Mikan had mentioned Hotaru Imai being holed up in her room. Subaru Imai had even used an emergency code to get in, but Hotaru was nowhere to be found. What if… what if this _thing_ had taken Hotaru and done something with her? Was that the real reason the creature had plagued him with nightmares?

Those eyes…

"What are you?" Ruka whispered.

The dragon stared at him. Still. Unmoving. They might as well have been suspended in time. And then, its jaw loosened the slightest bit. The voice-hiss escaped its throat.

"_I… can't speak…"_

Ruka stared at it in petrified horror. The stolen voice of Hotaru rolled throughout his head, corrupting any semblance of reality in his mind.

"Why… why do you… have…"

The dragon's frighteningly calm eyes flicked up, then rested back on Ruka.

"Why…?" it echoed him.

Ruka choked. That was an animal-voice, but it wasn't like any of the others. There were no growls or hisses or sounds to translate. In fact, there was no code at all. No animal he had ever met spoke with such clarity. It was like listening to human speech, but with an impossible reverb and a tone unmistakably inherent to animal language.

What _was_ this thing?

"This is better," it murmured in his mind. Despite the fact it wasn't actually using its throat, its voice was rough and raspy from lack of use. None of it changed the sickly familiar sound of Hotaru Imai's speech.

"W-what are you? What—"

"I can't speak vocally," it said. "But I can speak like this."

It sat down, and its tail curled like a tamed serpent. The dragon regarded Ruka with a look of patience. Like Hotaru, always unbelievably calm. Had it planned this? What was it thinking?

"What is Imai?" it asked.

Ruka was torn between confusion and worry. What in the world was going on?

"Hotaru Imai," he said slowly.

"It's familiar. A name," the dragon replied. Its not-really-a-voice was starting to clear up, but it was still a bit scratchy.

"I t-think… it's your name," Ruka mumbled.

It stared down at him with a mix of calmness and anticipation. "Do you know me?" it asked.

"I think," he told it.

The dragon gazed at him for a moment. Ruka stared back, unable to do anything else. His mind was too preoccupied by _whatdoIdowhatdoIdowhatdoIdo_ to manage the rest of his body.

"Why is that?" it finally asked.

"You have her eyes, and you sound like her," he said immediately.

The dragon's eyes narrowed a centimeter. "Tell me what she's like."

Ruka gulped. That wasn't a question.

"S-she had black hair and, well, purple eyes." Ruka paused, wondering if he should go on positively or negatively. He settled for both. "She had the Invention Alice, so she could make a lot of f-fantastic robots in only a little time. She was money-greedy, though, and she liked to blackmail and sell embarrassing p-pictures of me just to earn more."

He stopped there with a frown, realizing that he was speaking of her in the past tense. It wasn't like she was dead or anything, right?

The dragon surveyed him closely.

"Anything familiar?" he asked.

"It resonates," it replied.

"What do you mean? Er, I mean… what does it all m-make you think of?"

The dragon paused, as if debating whether he was trustworthy enough to continue speaking to. But it seemed to know that talking was more logical than attacking in this situation. Or at least, talking was more logical to Ruka. It would certainly help him not get clawed in the face_._

"The words are familiar," it said tartly.

Ruka's shoulders sagged. He didn't want to push the thing for more information. What if it lashed out? Changing the subject would probably be smarter.

"So, what do you remember?" he asked.

The dragon gazed at him harshly. It was Imai's eyes on a huge, scaly creature with sharp claws and crocodile-worthy teeth. Not a good combination.

After a moment of thought, Ruka let a few of his animal pheromones out, although he sincerely doubted that they would work. This thing was too intelligent. Maybe he could influence its body, but not its mind.

No dice. The dragon shook its head, as if blowing off the pheromones. And then… it glared at him. A calm glare. An Imai glare. The worst glare of all.

"Don't try to control me," it said tightly.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm really sorry!" he cried, backing up. The dragon got on all fours and followed him, its tail whipping behind it in irritation. Soon enough, it had him cornered against a tree.

"You're scared," it said. It wasn't a question.

"I-I—"

It brought its head eye-level to him. Composed, yet severe. Definitely an Imai glare. But the words that it spoke staggered Ruka.

"I have no reason to hurt you. You have no reason to be scared."

His mouth flapped open, then closed, then opened again. "I'll try not to give you a reason," he finally said.

Then, something amazing happened.

The corners of the dragon's—Hotaru Imai's, whatever it was—mouth quirked up into a small smile. The twitches of irritation turned into hints of amusement. For the first time, Ruka saw true emotion in Hotaru's eyes, emotion that was meant only for him. But just as quickly as it appeared, the smile-smirk was replaced by a strict mask.

"Ask me more questions," she commanded.

Ruka drooped a little. "All right… how about…" He chose his words carefully. "How about, what happened? I mean…"

This time, she decided to answer. "I woke up yesterday morning in this forest. I made it to a school—not yours, because the children there were kindergarten age. I realized that I looked different and had the foresight to observe from afar."

"Alright…" Ruka twiddled his thumbs, trying to think of something else. "How about… why were you following me last night?"

"Like I said, I had enough precaution not to interfere."

"Then why did you come up to me now?"

"The other animals practically sing praises for you. Out of all the other people stupid enough to wander this deep into the forest, I guessed you would be the best to approach. Besides, there wasn't much point in misleading you anymore. It was obvious you heard me. I'm still inept in this body."

"'This body'?" Ruka parroted.

"Imagine a little girl using her older brother's toy helicopter for the first time. It takes time for her to get used to the controls."

Her eyes flicked upwards. Ruka assumed she was recalling something, but she appeared to lose the memory, because then she looked back at him. He caught a hint of distaste on her face. Looked like this Hotaru wasn't as good at hiding her emotions. After all, years of experience had been wiped away from her mind.

His eyes widened. He'd begun referring to her as Hotaru in his mind. Maybe this dragon…

"Hotaru Imai is a familiar name," she said, as if she were echoing his thoughts.

"Maybe you're actually her," he murmured back.

"That could be interesting. Although, you didn't make her sound like the most amiable person."

Ruka winced. Maybe he should have used nicer terms. He apologized out loud.

"I don't care. Call me by her name from now on. It might help my memory."

"Sounds like a good plan," Ruka said. "Wait… 'from now on'?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Were you planning to run back home and tell all the others about me?"

He looked down. "Maybe…"

Hotaru shook her head slightly. "I don't want others to know I'm here."

"Why not?"

"I have my reasons."

Ruka hesitated, then mumbled, "I guess I won't tell anyone yet, then…"

Hotaru didn't say anything. Instead, she took a deep breath and leaned back on her haunches. She overshadowed him with her height, but this time Ruka felt a tiny bit more at ease. Still. This was Hotaru Imai (well, probably) in the body of a dragon. He didn't want to think about the possibilities.

A loud grumble managed to fill the silence. Hotaru glanced down quickly at her stomach, which was certainly not full.

"When was the last time you ate?" he asked quickly.

"As far as I remember, I haven't."

He gaped. "Aren't you starving?"

"Not literally. Dragons seem to have a better hunger tolerance," she said.

Ruka frowned up at her. "But you're hungry now?"

"Unfortunately."

"I'll get you something to eat, then."

He inched away, the back of his coat scraping against bark. Looks like he'd have to clean up this jacket when he got home. And he just did the laundry, too. At least he had enough intuition to switch out the Piyo hoodie.

Hotaru eyed him closely. Her gaze was calm as ever, but there was an intensity that Ruka couldn't explain. Slowly, she got to her feet and turned around.

He watched her walk away in silence. Was that it? Was that the last time he was going to see her?

But then, she paused to speak. "Go to the clearing just north of here tomorrow, in the early afternoon. I don't need to eat until then. Don't tell a soul about me. I trust you know the way."

The last Ruka saw of her that night was her tail. Its shine defied the darkness as she slinked into the night.

As soon as she left, he clutched his chest. That was way too much excitement for one day, and it wasn't even dawn yet…

* * *

**Hi there, necessary plot advancement. Oh, and mittened is a funny word.**

**Hotaru is harder than usual to write! So I apologize if she comes across as OOC. (And if she does, please tell me how I can fix it.) And who guessed the creature's identity already? At least the dragon part? It's in my very name, after all.**

**P.S. The Eastern Forest is next to the middle school. The Northern Forest is close to the elementary school. Therefore, Ruka has to cross the road separating the two just to visit the Northern Forest. Confused? Google Alice Academy's map. **

**Also, I reply to reviews in PMs, unless I'm answering a question that would be useful to anyone; in that case I'll announce the answer. **

**Toodles.**


	4. Telling No Souls

"Ruka."

He almost yelped at the call. Two steps towards the kitchen building, and he was already caught. Who would've guessed? Then again, it _was_ Natsume. Ruka turned around to face his friend.

Natsume gave him a hard stare. "I heard from Polka."

He winced. Just like Natsume to get straight to the point. But how could Ruka break it to him? _Oh, that scaly thing she was talking about is actually a dragon that just might be Hotaru Imai._ Yeah, that'd certainly go well.

"I'm going to check it out a bit later," Ruka said. It was the truth. He just wasn't telling all of it.

But Natsume was suspicious. "She mentioned you had a nightmare about it."

"It just scared me, that's all," Ruka said, his voice going up a pitch. Usagi fidgeted in his arms.

What if Natsume tried to find out? Ruka could keep secrets, but he couldn't stop Natsume from following him. Though, considering everything, Natsume coming along wouldn't be so bad. But then again, what could fire do against a dragon? That was only assuming it had some kind of affinity with fire, but Ruka didn't like taking risks.

And, besides…

"_Don't tell a soul about me."_

What would happen if he went against the dragon's command? The dragon, who was big, scaly, and covered with pointy parts? Ruka didn't want to think about it.

Thankfully, Natsume seemed to back down. "Tell me if anything happens."

"Of course."

And with that, Ruka ran towards the cooking area.

* * *

Pumping legs. Trembling hands. Trickling sweat. Gasping breaths. He couldn't stop running now. No, if he did, he'd be late. And he couldn't be late. Oh, why did Natsume have to show up? Why did Anna have to be restocking? Then he wouldn't have to be late!

_I'm going to be late!_

Usagi flopped up and down, hanging to Ruka on for dear life. A large box was fastened under the boy's other arm.

_What if she left already? She might not try finding me again. I need to get there fast…_

It went on like that for a while. Ruka panicking, Ruka running for his life, Usagi trying not to become a rabbit pancake on the forest floor. But finally, the trees parted to the one of the most beautiful sights Ruka had ever seen.

Ruka always liked this clearing. It stretched large and long, and its meadow-like grass swayed at all the right places and all the right times. During the sunsets, it was bathed in the most beautiful golden light, like the sun leaned down every evening just to kiss it goodnight.

The clearing rose in a gentle slope towards the east, forming an almost-hill that was easy to climb and fun to run down. Ruka barely noticed an imprint in the earth, where Piyo had jumped down a bit too hard one time when they were playing. He smiled at the memory.

He looked up the slope, relieved when he saw a black figure sitting at the top. Hotaru the dragon sat just where the incline ended. Her head was held high, and the afternoon sunlight glinted prettily off her scales. She looked small from where Ruka stood.

He placed Usagi on the ground before waving with a big, "Hey!"

Hotaru's head swung towards him. Ruka almost regretting calling out. There was a sharp look in her eye, probably annoyance, but she was too far away for him to tell. She didn't speak a word, but she stared at him with a slight frown as he scaled the slope.

Seeing the dragon in broad daylight was a lot easier on Ruka's psyche. At the very least, it was better than running away from her in the dead of night. If he didn't think about how irritated she probably was, Hotaru actually seemed to be in a good mood. In other words, she wasn't glaring at him. That was always good. Still, there was tension in the air as he approached.

"Your rabbit is afraid of me."

Ruka looked behind him. Several feet away, Usagi sat frozen.

"It's okay. She won't hurt you," he said, then silently added in, _Probably._

The rabbit's foot thumped hard. _"Snake! Dangerous!"_

"She's not a snake. She's a dragon," Ruka said, even though he doubted Usagi would know what a dragon was.

Usagi didn't budge. The grass was poking at his eyes and getting in his nose, but he didn't move an inch. Ruka was glad he didn't run away, but he didn't come any closer, either.

Hotaru glanced at Ruka. "The way they speak is a mess."

"Yeah, that's what it was like for me at first, too. I learned how to figure it out, I guess." He motioned at the spot beside her. "Mind if I sit down?"

She ignored the question, and instead looked at the box cradled in his arm. "What's that?"

"Your food."

Ruka awkwardly sat next to her. The grass that wasn't flattened reached past his waist. He and Hotaru were a few feet apart, but that was for Ruka's own sake. He noticed her tail twitching out of the corner of his eye. She obviously didn't want him to be near, but how else were they supposed to talk?

Ruka pried the box open, but not without a bit of difficulty. At one point, his fingers got completely tangled up in tape. He could have sworn he saw Hotaru smirking at him out of the corner of his eye. But when it finally got it open, it was worth it. After all, it was filled to the brim with… canned crab meat.

What luck. He'd just picked up a box of seafood at random in his rush to be on time. In a stroke of genius, he whipped out a can, careful to not to show the label to Hotaru, and cracked it open.

"It's uncooked," she deadpanned.

He cringed. They were freshly canned. Of course they would be uncooked. "Sorry…"

"No. Give it to me." She extended a paw. Or was it claws? Ruka went with hand.

"J-just a second," he said, ripping the label off so she wouldn't see it. He crumpled it into a ball and stuffed it under his legs, then handed her the can.

Hotaru eyed the contents. "What is this?"

"Guess."

For a moment Ruka thought she would poke him in the face with one of those very sharp-looking claws, but then she took a chunk of crab meat and held it to her mouth.

Then, she breathed fire.

It was a series of very short spurts, more like red sparks than anything, but it still counted as flame. Ruka watched in awe as she twisted the meat between her claws. Before long, she popped the cooked morsel into her mouth.

"Crab," she immediately said.

Ruka smiled. His experiment had worked. After all, Hotaru would have been able to tell it was crab, no matter what her form.

"Is it good?" he asked.

"Yes."

She picked up another piece of meat. And another. And a couple more. Then a handful. Soon enough, she was grabbing enough her second can and huffing fire into it.

Ruka was torn between asking "How are you doing that?" and "Are you sure that's safe?", so he asked both.

"I learned how while I was waiting for you." He gulped at that, but she paid no mind. "I can touch the aluminum safely. My scales are fireproof."

Ruka grinned nervously. "I can't say the same for my skin."

So she was fireproof. That meant Natsume would be useless against her in a fight. Ruka wasn't sure whether that was good or bad.

Hotaru paused eating to adjust position. It took a good amount of movement before she was able to comfortably lay down. She was a little closer to Ruka once she finished shifting, but after their small talk, he wasn't as uneasy about it.

As she continued munching along, Ruka's attention returned to Usagi. The rabbit was still sitting there, but he seemed a lot more relaxed.

"Usagi, why don't you come over here?" he called.

The rabbit went as stiff as a board.

"Look, it's fine. She's not laying a hand on me. If she won't hurt me, then she won't hurt you. I promise."

Hotaru glanced at him with an air of disbelief, but otherwise, she didn't contribute.

Slowly, Usagi inched closer and closer. It took a full three minutes before he was close enough for Ruka to touch. At the last moment, the rabbit bounded into Ruka's arms. He curled up into a quivering mass of nerves.

It was better than nothing. Ruka pet him in satisfaction.

They sat there in relative silence, aside from the occasional movement or the munching of meat. Usagi slowly began to doze in Ruka's lap. As the minutes passed, the tension slowly seeped out from between them. Maybe it was the calming area, or maybe it was the quiet, but either way the atmosphere fell into something reminiscent of tranquility. By losing himself in his daydreams, Ruka almost forgot he was sitting next to Hotaru the dragon.

But all good things were meant to be broken. The silence was shattered when Hotaru tapped on her current can of meat. Ruka looked at her in confusion.

"I'm finished," she said.

He was astonished. Cans and cans of crab meat lay scattered around her body. The ones laying on their sides were almost enveloped by the grass. How had she eaten all those in less than an hour?

"I knew you liked crab brains, but I didn't know you liked them _that _much," he said in awe.

"Dragons would logically have bigger stomachs. Maybe even more than one," Hotaru said offhandedly. She twirled her last can like a yoyo. "And your claim is flawed. Crab brains are pea-sized at best. You're talking about kani miso, and this is definitely not it. I thought you knew animals, Bunny Boy?"

Ruka gaped at her in indignation. The last time she'd called him that was… oh. Last week. But still!

Then he realized that she had called him that name a week ago. A week ago, when she didn't have more than four limbs. This was a memory. He pointed it out.

She smirked. "Then I guess I'll have to call you Bunny Boy from now on, won't I? After all, you've never told me your name."

Ruka was stricken. The absurdity of it all threw him off for a couple moments. All this time, and she didn't even know his name? Why hadn't she asked?

It was so easy to forget, especially now, where she was acting more like the Hotaru Imai he knew. The one that loved to dig up his secrets, and then use those secrets to sabotage his daily life. He could change his locker combination every day and she'd know it by the end of third period.

But this Hotaru was different. This Hotaru didn't even know his name.

"Ruka Nogi," he blurted.

"Ruka Nogi." She rolled the name over her tongue a couple times, then nodded slightly. "It's familiar. Tell me more names."

"Natsume Hyuuga."

"I recognize it."

"Do you remember anything?"

"Fire and distastefulness."

Ruka couldn't help but chuckle. "How about Mikan Sakura?"

A nearly invisible mix between a grimace and a grin appeared on her face. Ruka almost started laughing.

"She's your best friend," he explained.

"Is that something she said?" When he nodded, she went on, "For some reason I have the gist that she's an idiot."

Ruka broke out into laughter. Hotaru raised a scaly eyebrow, but didn't comment until he was finished. He stopped only when Usagi began to stir.

"S-sorry, I just… I should've known that would be the first thing you'd remember about her."

"I'm assuming that means she is really an idiot."

"Ah…" Ruka looked away, not wanting to be impolite. "I wouldn't say that…"

"I would," Hotaru said bluntly. "Though there's always the possibility that you're attempting a form of reverse-psychology."

"I don't even know how to do that," he replied.

After all, Hotaru would always be too smart for simple mind games. But… then again, this one had little to no memories. He couldn't really trick her, but it occurred to him how easily he could exploit her current state.

She recalled things little by little. What kinds of bad habits and half-memories could he use to blackmail her once she turned back human? But that wasn't him. He couldn't do that to anyone, not even Hotaru Imai.

Hotaru probably saw the doubt on his face, but she didn't say a word about it. For a moment, she watched him with half-lidded eyes. Then she turned to look at the sun.

Ruka followed her gaze. It was almost sunset… he'd have to leave soon.

Hotaru lay there, her limbs tucked neatly against her body, her head raised and neck in a gentle curve, and her eyes set on the illuminated sky. An image of her human self flashed through Ruka's mind. She was smaller, much smaller than this dragon Hotaru. The tall grass almost engulfed her frame. But she looked just as comfortable and content as she did now in her reptilian body.

It was a strange image. Recently, Hotaru had been bogged down with a growing workload. She'd locked herself in her room more often. In the times she came out to blackmail him, she only took quick snippets compared to their elementary school years. In Mikan's words, it was hard to catch her without some sort of plan on her schedule for the next hour. So where Ruka had time to calm down, Hotaru had less.

But now there was this draconic, memory-less Hotaru. There was no blackmail or embarrassing pictures to exploit. There was no work to distract or stress her out. She only had a handful of ambiguous memories.

It made Ruka wonder. Could all of those experiences really be wiped away so easily? How did any of this happen, anyways? But there were no answers, so there was no point in over thinking it.

And there was another question. What if this wasn't the real Hotaru Imai? The idea that it _wasn't _her was getting ridiculous. This dragon acted differently than usual. That much was undeniable. But everything else was still too similar to dismiss.

This could only be Hotaru Imai. He would accept it. He had to.

He turned his head to watch her. Just early this morning, he was scared to death of her. Actually, a few days ago, when she was still human, he was still pretty intimidated by what she could do. And now he was sitting next to her for hours on end, like he often did with Natsume, especially back when the Fire Alice had those dangerous missions.

Oddly enough, he liked it. It was nice and peaceful. Ruka found himself rid of worries that usually came with Hotaru's presence. After all, she had no reason to cause him trouble. No pictures. No blackmail. Just her.

But how long would it last? Not that long, probably. It seemed like Hotaru would end up remembering everything sooner or later. And when that happened, the mutual peace would be broken. She'd be busy with work again. She'd only talk to him when she needed an extra bit of dough. It would be like this lovely Sunday evening never happened. Ruka felt weighed down by the revelation, but he supposed it wasn't too much of a loss.

"Do you have school tomorrow?" Hotaru asked quietly. She was still watching the sun.

"So you remember we had school?"

"Vaguely."

He sighed. "Yeah, I have school… and it's Monday, too. I don't know how I'm going to wake up…"

She didn't reply. Ruka could see her nose twitching slightly.

He turned his gaze to the sunset, or his favorite time of the day. Shades of red, orange, blue and violet danced in the sky, linked together like life-long friends. The sun clung to the mountain peaks as it whispered farewell to Japan. Its colors swirled and collided, casting light over the clearing. Ruka saw it as the day's last blessing for Alice Academy.

The tired golden orb peeked from the treetops, its rays waving a farewell. Before he knew it, Ruka was waving back.

"What are you doing?" Hotaru mumbled.

Ruka looked at his hand and chuckled. "I guess I was waving goodbye at the sun." He turned the hand to her, still waving. "Now it's for you."

And so she did another thing Hotaru Imai would never do in front of him. That would be, to laugh.

It wasn't through her animal-voice or anything. She laughed physically. It was soft and melodious, if not a little nasally due to her unnaturally long throat. But her shoulders trembled and her cheeks rose slightly, and that was enough to call it a laugh. Not a cynical laugh. Not an menacing laugh. A real laugh. Just for him.

Hotaru rose to her feet after that, calling out that she would see him tomorrow—same time, same place. She also reminded him not mention her existence to anyone. Ruka didn't need to respond to agree. Rather, he couldn't. He was too shocked by the impossible sound of Hotaru Imai laughing.

But that didn't keep him from feeling resentful as he spent the next ten minutes picking up empty cans of crab meat.

* * *

After Ruka had finished dumping all the empty cans, he felt pretty satisfied. He'd uncovered the mystery of the scaled creature, which was nice even though it just brought up a whole lot of other questions. And they were going to meet up again tomorrow. He was already brainstorming different ways to jog her memories. It was actually kind of fun.

He turned away from the garbage dumpster and smacked the grit off his hands. Right now, he'd go take a shower, and then he could sleep. Even though it was only about seven, he'd need all the rest he could get.

But Ruka's thoughts were interrupted as he bumped into a tall man with black hair and glasses. He looked up and gulped, meeting the eyes of Subaru Imai.

"Nogi," he said dryly.

"Err, hi… Imai-san." Addressing Subaru that way felt funny on Ruka's tongue.

"Hmm. How convenient. I didn't have to bother looking for you," Subaru said. "You no longer have to pass a message to my sister. The medical industry's request has been passed on to another inventor."

Ruka deflated. Not that he could've told Hotaru anyways, what with her being an amnesiac dragon…

"But you still should tell me if you see her." Was that the slightest tinge of worry in his voice? No, it couldn't be…

With that, Subaru walked past Ruka, leaving the boy feeling somewhat guilty.

He stood there, mulling it over for a few moments. It would probably be better to tell Subaru that his sister was fine… but Hotaru had made it a point not to tell anyone. He'd have to ask her about it later.

Just as Ruka was about to head back, a couple of kids walked straight up to him. He couldn't tell if it was malice or curiosity on their faces. Maybe both.

One was a girl with fox-like features, being skinny with brown hair and golden eyes. A honey-colored stone set in a silver pendant hung loosely from her neck. The other was a large boy with hair the color of olives. His shoulders were broad, his fists were bulky, and his mouth was fixed in a straight line.

"Hello there," the girl said. "We heard you saw something scaly in the Northern Forest?"

"Mm," the boy agreed.

"Um, yes. Please try to avoid going inside for now. I'm still trying to go figure it out," Ruka said.

The girl's eyes widened. "Really? Are you sure it's safe?"

"It's all right. I have the Animal Pheromone Alice. If it tries to do anything, I can stop it," Ruka lied. "I'll be fine. But thanks for worrying."

A small frown materialized on her face. "Well, if you say so… but still, be careful. Sometimes things like these can be hard to handle… right? Especially if you don't even know about it yet. I'm not sure you'd be able to control this one," she said cautiously.

A shiver ran down his spine. Why would she make that assumption, and why was it so accurate? It had to be a coincidence…

"Anyways, can you please tell us if you find out anything more about it?"

_Oh, I sure did._ Ruka eyed them suspiciously. "Why do you have to know?"

The boy grunted. "Curious."

"That's right. We're like the secret detectives of the Middle School Division." She grinned. "Well, if that's all… we'll be seeing you later then, I guess."

The boy and the girl left after that. Ruka watched them for a moment, frowning, before turning back to the dorms.

* * *

**Okay, so I've been experimenting with writing style, as you may have noticed. I'm worried it may have been too 'heavy'. You know, fancy. Overly embellished. Or filled with awkward bits of vocabulary. Yeaaah.**

**So you may have noticed that I went back and edited… a lot… again. Writing's full of revision, after all… I guess. Is it better or worse? I have the old version(s) still saved. Either way, if I write more stories, the style will probably be different.**

**Thanks for Meocaroba, xxBrokenNightDollxx, and 'mw' for reviewing. ;)**

**Here's a time map:**

**[Friday late night/Saturday early morning]  
****Ruka hears the thing in the forest****  
[Saturday afternoon-night]  
****Ruka wakes up late and does laundry/talks to Mikan - Ruka finds bird in the forest/Subaru heals bird/tells him about Hotaru's strange absence - Ruka takes a 'nap'  
****[Sunday morning]  
****Ruka wakes up extremely early - Ruka communicates with dragon-Hotaru  
****[Sunday afternoon-evening]  
****Ruka meets and familiarizes with dragon-Hotaru - Ruka leaves after sunset  
****[Sunday evening]  
****Ruka talks to Subaru - Ruka talks to two kids**

**Next chapter takes place on Friday.**


	5. Define Human

Class was never very interesting, especially when there was a substitute. Today was no exception.

Ruka was smart. He wasn't boastful about it, but he wouldn't deny it either. He didn't really have to pay attention in class, and even then his lowest grade was the uncommon C. So, since science was easily his best subject, he spaced out the most in it. There was always something to think about. Was that baby fox cub back to health again? How was that parrot he released doing? But this day, his thoughts were occupied by something much different.

His eyes often drifted to Hotaru's empty seat. _I wonder what she's doing right now?_ Normally, he suppressed any thoughts about to her, but luckily for Ruka, Sumire's premonition was right. Koko was sick with the flu. Ruka didn't need to worry about hiding his thoughts.

His head wandered left and right, staring at the various students in the room. Everyone seemed as bored as he was. Kitsuneme, without Koko to make mischief with, was doodling on his desk. Nonoko was mixing chemicals under her desk, and Anna was whispering to her newest living gingerbread men. In all, maybe Yuu was the only person actually paying attention to the lesson.

Ruka peered at Natsume, surprised when their eyes met. They locked into a silent conversation.

_You're spacing out,_ Natsume's arched eyebrow said.

Ruka shook his head slightly. _It's nothing… really._

Natsume snorted, his face disbelieving. He opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted.

"You two! Please, stop d-doing that," the substitute said feebly.

Both boys frowned at him. The substitute let out a small squeak. At least, for his sake, almost no one was paying attention. The boys returned to spacing out, but for the rest of the period, Ruka was painfully aware of Natsume's eyes burning holes into the side of his head.

The lunch bell rang, loud and shrill. In an instant, Ruka decided that he was not having a repeat of last week. No lateness this time. Before Natsume could even open his mouth, Ruka swiped his food and sprinted for the door. He was only stopped by a worried-looking Mikan.

Her eyes were tired. They'd been growing sadder and sadder each passing day. Apparently, Subaru had told her to keep a lookout for the missing Hotaru, much like he asked of Ruka. It only served to cloud Mikan's cheerfulness with apprehension.

Ruka wanted desperately to wipe away her worries, but there was nothing he could do. He promised not to speak a word about Hotaru's current state, and if there was one thing he could do, it was keeping promises.

Mikan put on a smile, but to Ruka, it looked more weary than anything else. "Where are you going, Ruka-pyon?"

"Ah, I'm going to eat with the animals," he said hastily. "Sorry, but I really have to go now. See you, Sa—Mikan-chan."

A pair of suspicious crimson eyes trailed after Ruka as he ran out the door, but their owner made no move to follow him.

* * *

"Oh, so you're… hah… you're here already?"

Hotaru's great head turned to face Ruka, who was standing among the trees. He dropped a large paper bag, which fell upon the wet ground with a muddled plop. Ruka keeled over and panted as he waited for Hotaru's response.

"No, Nogi. I'm your drug-induced hallucination."

Ruka didn't respond right away as he tried to catch his breath. But when he finally looked up, he smiled. "Glad to see you too. Have you gotten any more of your memories back?"

It was usually the first thing he asked. This past week, Ruka's time had been swamped by a myriad of various things. Homework, the animals, rain, and being asked to hang out with friends. If he didn't do everything, it'd be suspicious. As a result, he'd only been able to manage about half an hour with Hotaru per day. She didn't show any sort of irritation, but he worried anyways.

"You have school today. What are you doing here in the middle of the afternoon?" Hotaru dodged the question.

He frowned, but let it slide. Since their first meeting on Sunday, she had little progress on her memories, so he understood if she didn't want to talk about it.

Ruka picked up the lunch bag, walked over, and sat cross-legged next to her. "Lunch break is an hour long on Fridays," he explained. "It only takes about fifteen minutes to run over here, so I can stay here for half an hour…"

"And you think you'll have enough stamina to run like that again?" Hotaru said skeptically.

She suddenly reached over and pressed the blunt side of her claw against his cheek. It was wonderfully cool against his skin. Ruka tried not to imagine the human Hotaru doing that.

When she drew it away, she held it in front of his face, showing him the collected droplets of sweat. Ruka would've blushed if his face wasn't already so red. Was he really sweating that much?

"Now I'm going to have to wash it," she said dryly. "And you're going to have to wash your… everything. I'm not tolerating your body odor when you visit later on."

Ruka scowled. "Who said I was visiting later on?" Hotaru eyed him dangerously, and Ruka gulped. "I'm just kidding…"

"Good. I still need to eat, after all." She pinched his lunch bag and held it up. "And what is this?"

He snatched it back and held it away at arm's length, as if that could stop her. "I still need to eat too!" he complained.

"My question, Nogi."

Ruka sighed and relented. He dug into the bag. "Just a ham and cheese sandwich… some carrots, those are for Usagi… a bit of salad…"

Hotaru's tail twitched impatiently. "And?"

"Nothing else."

"Don't lie to me."

Ruka glowered at her. "Okay, fine! I got you a snack." He pulled out a large chunk of grilled salmon. "Happy now?"

Hotaru plucked it right out of his hands. She didn't even bother to take out the bones. Apparently, they didn't give dragons any trouble chewing.

"Not even a 'thank you'? I had to sneak that out of the kitchen for you." It was because he ran out of money from buying Hotaru seafood all week, but he was tactful enough to leave that out. "I almost got caught by Umenomiya-san, too, and she really hates it when people try to smuggle out food."

"You're starting to nag more than a frustrated housewife, Nogi." She looked up thoughtfully as he fumed. "Umenomiya… Anna? The one with pink hair?"

"Yeah, she has the Cooking Alice. And why does it have to be a house—"

"I remembered something about her best friend."

He froze mid-speech. "R-really? Nonoko Ogasawara, right?"

"Chemistry Alice. I remember buying several things from her." Hotaru stared hard at his lunch bag. "Some sort of supplements."

"What kinds?"

"I believe most of them had caffeine," she answered.

He frowned. "For staying awake?"

"That sounds right." She looked at him. "I spent a lot of time staying up late, working on something."

"An invention?" Ruka suggested.

"Yes, that's it." Hotaru nodded slightly. "I can't remember which one… a machine… something starting with 'Dis'…"

"Disguise? Discipline? Discouragement?"

"No. The names are familiar, but whatever inventions I made with those names didn't take very long to build. This invention took a lot longer. Long enough for me to pull all-nighters. But what?"

"If you pulled all-nighters, I guess it's really important. I always thought you liked getting your sleep," he mumbled.

"Are you saying I'm lazy, Bunny Boy?"

He spluttered. "Nogi! It's Ruka Nogi!"

Hotaru flicked him square on the forehead.

"Ow! Geez, don't you know how much that hurts?" he said, fussing over his forehead.

"Your excessively long bangs will cover any possible marks. And it wasn't that hard. Would you prefer me poking instead?" Hotaru brandished her claws at his face, and he shuddered at the thought of them jamming into his head.

"Fine, fine. I get it."

He rubbed his forehead as she gnawed at the rest of her salmon. She seemed to be savoring the treat, so it took a minute or two.

While she finished, Ruka spoke. "It's been a week since you turned into a dragon."

"I've been keeping track," she replied.

He tested the waters. She actually seemed to be in a good mood… maybe this would be the right time to bring it up.

"They're starting to send out search parties for you," he said softly.

She stared at him hard. "I've seen them."

"I found out that your brother is on the party for tonight."

"Your point, Nogi?"

"Mikan burst into tears during class today," he blurted. "She misses you. They all miss you."

Hotaru shook her head. "Don't even try to convince me, Nogi. We've had this conversation before. I won't chance revealing myself until I'm human again, assuming I even _am_ Hotaru Imai—"

"You are her. I can't believe anything else—"

"Wishful thinking, but I won't blame you for being the optimist here—"

"Imai, what if you never become human again?"

Silence.

"I mean… on your own," Ruka amended. "We can get help, you know. The campus is filled with people that can figure out what's going on with you—"

"—and people who would just love to anatomize me," she shot back. "Have you ever seen a dragon before, Nogi? No, you haven't, and nobody else has either. They'll either want more, or they'll want none."

"But you're not a dragon." Ruka went on before she could stop him. "You're a _human_, and besides your friends, a lot of people consider you… well… valuable. You have the Invention Alice. You're really well known. People wouldn't just let you get experimented on."

"I would," she replied.

His breath caught. "W-what?"

"If something like me came on campus, I would encourage them to go for testing. And it that's my mindset, I'm sure many others would think the same. But because _I'm_ the dragon, I know it would be a mistake. Do you know what I can do, Nogi?"

She lifted a hand, and her claws glinted in the afternoon sunlight.

"I can brain you with a finger. I could set this forest on fire with ease. The only reason I don't is because I'm intelligent. What if there was something with my body, but no mind? It would be a mistake. And in inventing, there is no room for mistakes."

That was definitely a memory, but Ruka was too heated up to point it out.

"And there's another factor. I'm a dragon—maybe not in mind, but in body. Even if I turn back to a human, assuming that I really am your Hotaru Imai, they'll never see me the same way. I'll be the girl with the Invention Alice. I always was. But now, I'll be the girl who was once a dragon with the Invention Alice. They won't see me as entirely human." She paused. "That's not the business title I would prefer."

"This isn't about business titles!" Ruka shouted. "It's about getting your body back. It's about keeping your friends from worrying about you. Doesn't that matter?"

Hotaru gazed at him coldly. "I have no friends."

A dead weight rattled in the pits of Ruka's heart. What did she…

"…except you." She looked away. "As much as I loathe saying it. You're my only acquaintance, let alone ally right now. You've realized that I don't remember anyone."

He grasped for an argument desperately. "Yes, you do…"

"Besides names, images and the odd experience. Natsume, your best friend. All I recalled on my own is that he has the Fire Alice, is annoying, and is dating my friend. And then there's Mikan, who's _my_ supposed best friend. I only remember that she's a complete idiot, and that I once gave her a minor concussion after she tried stealing one of my cans of crab. And you. I've spent hours with you here and the most I can remember is random events that have to do with blackmail."

Ruka scratched the back of his neck. "To tell the truth, that's all you ever did with me… but I think I get your point. You don't want people seeing you differently from before, even though you don't really remember them."

Hotaru nodded. Her irritation melted back into a perfect picture of stoicism. "It would be troublesome once I regain my memories."

_Are you sure that's why, Imai? _As much as he wanted to say it, he knew it would just lead to another quarrel. He had a million reasons to protest against her arguments, but he knew nothing would shake her resolve. At least… nothing right now.

"But can you do at least one thing for me?" he asked. "Actually, it's for you, but…"

She eyed him carefully. "I can't decide unless you tell me, Nogi."

"I want to follow the search party tonight. At least you'll be able to see your brother. Maybe that'll help jog a few more memories."

Hotaru mulled it over a moment. "It'll be difficult to stay hidden."

"It's worth it," Ruka said firmly.

Slowly, she nodded. "On one condition."

He perked up. "Really? What is it?"

"Don't even try to convince me to show myself," Hotaru said. "I don't need any more trouble."

"You've got a deal," he said merrily. Ruka stuck out his hand. After a moment, Hotaru shook it. Her hand was phenomenally larger than his, and her claws nipped at the skin of his wrist, but he didn't mind.

As the tenseness slowly faded, they spent the next few minutes small-talking.

Ruka swallowed a bite of sandwich. "So Usagi actually visits you sometimes?"

"If you would prefer calling them visits. He likes to stare at me from the other end of the field," she said dryly. "It reminds me of delusional fan boys. I'm guessing that's a memory."

He chuckled and nodded, then handed her the bag of carrots. "If you see him, give him these. Maybe he'll like you more. Oh, that reminds me… were you the one who helped that lark some time ago?"

"I thought it was a sparrow," Hotaru replied.

"So you were the one."

"I never said that."

"Well you're not the one who injured it, were you?"

"Of course not. Do you picture me going around and scratching harmless birds in my free time?"

"N-no, of course not. I was just wondering," he defended himself. "You know, maybe you could get to know the animals more…"

"I don't particularly care. But they don't seem to mind me as much as before," she said.

Ruka nodded. "That's probably because I told them you were okay. Or maybe they're just getting used to you. Anyways, I was thinking I could introduce you to a couple of the smarter ones."

She frowned. "Smarter?"

"And… well, bigger. You'll have to see them to—"

"You don't mean the giant chick, do you?" Hotaru snorted at Ruka's astonished expression. "The thing nearly stepped on me once. I don't want to meet it again."

Ruka chuckled. "Okay, then. He lives in the Eastern Forest anyways, so I guess it'd be too much of a hassle trying to sneak you across the road. Besides, there's someone else. She lives in this forest, but way up north. She's a lot smaller than Piyo, though, so you don't have to worry about getting trampled."

"Is 'she' bigger than me?"

He looked away. "Just a little…"

Hotaru didn't look too enthused, but she just shrugged. Ruka took it as a maybe.

He stood up after a few more minutes, catching Hotaru's eye. Ruka pointed at his watch. "It's time. I have to go back now." He looked down at it worriedly. "Actually, I think I may be a little late…"

"I wouldn't count on that."

Ruka looked up. "What do you mean?"

Hotaru stood up on all four legs. It was a bit strange, seeing as she was usually laying down on his visits. Ruka couldn't tell if it was out of tact or just because it was more comfortable. Probably the latter.

Once again, he was made aware of how tall she really was. Ruka's head was almost level with Hotaru's shoulders, and her neck had to bend a little in order to look at him properly.

She turned in a circle and bent her knees. If he wanted to, he could just jump on her back and…

"Wait… you're letting me…"

"Get on already."

Ruka didn't need to be asked twice. But when he scrambled over, he found a small problem. He had no idea how to get on.

After a moment of thought, he grabbed one of her spines. It was slippery yet bit into his palm, but it did the trick. Thankfully, there weren't any on her back, so he didn't have to worry about sitting on them.

He slung his leg over her shoulders. All four of them, if he counted her wings.

Ruka felt around her neck for a moment, trying to get a good grasp on something. The spikes were too small and curved for a good grip, so that was out of the question. He tried hugging himself to her neck. One barb pressed uncomfortably against his stomach, but it was better than nothing.

"This is practice for tonight," Hotaru explained.

Ruka found it strange to hear her speak without vibrations. It was like she had a disembodied voice.

She got to her feet. Looking down, Ruka was reminded of the days before the Academy, particularly when he played on the playground monkey bars. The ground seemed so much father away than it actually was.

Slowly, to test the new weight, Hotaru paced back and forth. It was rather bumpy for Ruka, but within a minute he pretty much got used to it. Holding onto a ring being carried by a giant eagle was a whole lot worse.

Finally, Hotaru headed towards the forest. As soon as she hit the tree line, she broke into a sprint.

Trees whizzed by incomprehensibly fast. Ruka wondered how Hotaru managed to avoid all the trees. After all, in that wild midnight chase almost a week ago, she made so much noise a half-deaf cat could hear her. Maybe she'd been practicing? What did she do in her free time, anyways?

It was like riding on a reptilian puma. She ran much like a mammal, and since Ruka had ridden many of those before, he knew exactly how to keep from being bucked off. As she ran, little spots of sunlight made her scales flare. The fact that she was black didn't help. It was obvious that she was more suited for the night.

In mere minutes, they were near the edge of the forest. How could Hotaru of all people run so fast? She was never athletic. Maybe it wasn't so quick by dragon standards. She didn't even look tired as Ruka slipped off her back.

"I'll see you tonight," she said, then turned and ran briskly into the forest.

"See you…" Ruka called quietly. He checked his watch. Seven more minutes… he'd be on time if he ran fast enough—

"Oof!"

Ruka suddenly barreled over. His stomach lurched from the push, and he groaned as he hit the ground. The boy rolled over and looked up to meet a pair of fox-like eyes.

"Oh, it's you. Sorry about that. Daichi's bad at dodging when he runs really fast," the girl from Sunday said.

The stone of her pendant shone the same color as the sun. The large boy—Daichi, apparently—slowly got to his feet. Ruka opened his mouth to reply, but he was cut off.

"Sorry, but we're kind of in a hurry. Did you see a black scaly thing just now?" the girl asked.

Ruka's heart skipped a beat. They were looking for Hotaru? Only, they wouldn't know it was Hotaru. What should he do? Cover for her, of course. He pointed towards a completely different direction from where Hotaru just left. "I think I saw something going that way."

"Thanks!" the girl cried. She and Daichi ran off towards the direction.

"Wait! Aren't you going to class?" he called after them. But they were already gone.

Ruka watched until all traces of them disappeared, then rubbed his head and sighed. This would be something to mull over in class, but first, he had to actually _get_ to class.

* * *

**Cocoa puffs are like red blood cells. Most are regular. Circular. I tend to avoid the oddly shaped ones. They remind me of anemic or sickle cells.**

…**yeah, I'm sick with that oh-so-wonderfully popular flu right now. Or maybe some sort of pneumonia. I'm not really sure. I've also been pretty discouraged with writing this story as of late. So I'm probably going on a sort of hiatus, as I attempt to write a Valentine's special, and maybe an adventure story. Emphasis on the 'attempt'. **


	6. Discoveries

**Can't put an A/N at the end this time, so thanks for Annabelle Rae for the huge review. Also… so much for that hiatus. I'm feeling a lot better now. Sickness is almost gone. And I never planned on **_**abandoning**_** this story, so don't worry about anything like that. ;)**

* * *

When Ruka peered out the window at 9PM that evening, his eyes went the size of moons. The search party was already shuffling towards the forest. They usually didn't come out so early. In that case, he'd really have to hurry up.

He threw on a winter coat. Even though it was still autumn, it would be pretty cold at night. He rushed down the stairs. On most days he'd tiptoe, but there was no time to keep quiet.

Ruka scurried out the dorms and sprinted all the way to the tree line, but something—actually, someone—was already waiting for him.

"Get on," Hotaru's animal-voice chimed.

She crouched down, and Ruka jumped on her back with no complaint. Within seconds they were rushing towards the search party's path.

As she ran, a question bubbled up in Ruka's mind. He pulled himself closer to Hotaru's neck. The blond grappled at her throat to reach her ears, but this must have startled her, because she nearly tripped.

"Sorry," he whispered, hoping his voice was heard over the wind. "But why were you there already?"

"I had nothing else to do," Hotaru replied.

"But don't you think that would have been dangerous? I thought you didn't want to be seen."

"It would have been worse if the search party found you before you found me. Now shut up before someone hears you."

Ruka obeyed, and Hotaru settled into a brisk run. Her pace slowed as the sounds of voices echoed throughout the forest. Wind cycled from the distance, batting at Ruka's face and getting his bangs in his eyes.

"Matsudaira, stop using your damn Alice! Don't you realize you might be scaring off what we're looking for?"

"But I can't see… the only way I can keep myself from tripping is, well, floating."

Ruka frowned. Matsudaira… Hayate? Wasn't he the one that always called Hotaru 'Cool Blue Sky'? Looking at the dragon, she seemed a bit irritated already. A small smile pulled at Ruka's lips.

"Damn it, Matsudaira! Imai? Imai, do you have an extra flashlight?"

"No. Tell him to tag with somebody else if he was so stupid to forget his own."

Ruka's eyes widened. "That's your brother…"

Said brother whipped his head at the duo's general direction. "Did you hear anything?"

The shadowy figures of the search party huddled together, back-to-back. Their heads swung around, looking for the source of the sound.

"Didn't I tell you to shut up?" Hotaru hissed.

_Wait, you just spoke! _But then Ruka realized that only he could hear Hotaru. She was using an animal-voice, after all. That brought up another thing… who would really believe it was her, if no one could hear her voice?

When the duo remained quiet, the search party eventually lowered their guard. Hotaru shot Ruka a warning look, then continued following them.

Ruka bit his lip. _Just a little closer… if they'd only stop walking…_

"Imai-san, I think I got a signal!" Hayate said.

One of the other men cursed. "Who gave him the tracker?"

"It doesn't matter. Give it to me."

Hayate passed it to Subaru, who played with a few controls before nodding. "This is definitely a signal."

Ruka and Hotaru shared wary looks. What signal was he talking about?

"It looks like she's in school grounds after all," a gruff voice remarked.

Hotaru took a step back. Ruka's grip around her neck tightened. They couldn't mean her, could they?

"Let's go after it. Go on, go on," another said.

Instead of heading towards the duo, the team headed northeast in a narrow line. Ruka could finally count six people. Hotaru nodded at him, then jumped into the darkness.

They traveled up north for what seemed to be hours. After all, the search team moved in a steady plod. Their pace was painfully slow, especially for the fast-running Hotaru, Ruka guessed. Her tail was lashing, like it often did when she was irritated, and she probably didn't even notice. Her body language was usually suppressed, but she wasn't used to managing the extra limb.

Finally, the party came to a stop. The six people crowded around a tiny clearing. What was in the center? They blocked the view, but everybody had gone completely silent. Ruka shivered in cold anticipation. What could possibly be there?

When Hotaru reared up on her hind legs, using a tree as a support to stand, his question was answered. In the moonlight laid the torn-up remains of a middle school uniform. They were ripped to absolute shreds. Nearly unrecognizable. But it was still obvious.

Those were Hotaru's clothes.

Why were they ripped? Because of a transformation? Or was it a ruse? An accident? It looked like they'd been victim to an attack. In a moment of horror, he realized that the search party probably thought it was just that.

They thought she was injured. Maybe even dead.

Hotaru's voice broke through his thoughts. "My brother."

Ruka's head snapped to Subaru. For once In his life, he saw pure, raw emotion on the male Imai's face. Rage. Total, utter rage. He looked ready to kill something.

What a great first impression.

Ruka wanted to explain, but that would require breaking the silence. Hotaru seemed to understand anyways. She seemed a bit melancholy, but maybe it was just his imagination. Maybe she was remembering something? If so, their mission was complete… but maybe not in the way Ruka hoped.

"T-the signal," Hayate stuttered, pointing at the ground. "The t-transmitter…"

He looked like someone had tasered him. The Wind Alice stooped down, shakily picking up two black wallets.

One was much thicker than the other. He opened the thin wallet first. Inside was an ID card and a medal. The medal, a gold star that Ruka recognized as a signal to find runaway students, was severely cracked. So that was why they only found it now.

Hayate dropped the thinner wallet like it was on fire. Carefully, as if it was a precious antique, he brushed off the thicker wallet's dirt. Slowly but surely, he opened it up, then dropped it like it was on fire.

"It's hers. I-it's hers. It-it's hers…"

He kept on repeating it like a life-saving mantra. But Subaru's face had returned to its stoic state. He kneeled at the ground, picking up the little scraps of clothing and inspecting them closely.

"There's no blood."

Everybody's heads snapped up.

Subaru hand clenched around a piece of the uniform's neck collar. "There's no blood. There is still hope."

He met all the eyes of the group. "As you all know, there have been rumors of a scaled creature lurking in this forest. I am starting to believe that they might be true. It may one of the factors behind my sister's disappearance."

Hotaru's head snapped back. "You told somebody?"

Ruka shook his head frantically. He glanced at the group; they were talking right now, so they might not hear him. Taking the chance, he whispered, "No, I didn't. Before I actually met you, I warned Mikan that there was something in the forest, and I told her to warn everyone else about it too."

"Okay, just now, I swear I heard something," a man grumbled.

Ruka gulped; he hadn't been quiet enough.

"I didn't," Hayate mumbled sourly. "Anyways, I was wondering…"

For once in his life, Ruka thanked Hayate.

"We'll talk about this later," Hotaru said. "For now… I want that ID card."

Ruka was baffled. Didn't she know how dangerous it would be? He pulled himself extremely close to her ear. "Why?"

"It has my picture, idiot. That and it looks like a wallet. There may be a number of personal things inside." She squinted. "Wait… where did that moron drop it?"

"No, we shouldn't take the chance. It could have trackers or something, or you could be caught. I'll just get you another picture later," he whispered as quietly as possible. Thankfully, no one in the party seemed to hear.

They lingered there for a couple more minutes, but when nothing else happened, Hotaru decided to leave. She turned and leaped into the cloak of darkness.

After a minute of running, Ruka began to sweat. The adrenaline seeped away and left behind dread. The search party was going to specifically look for Hotaru and the dragon. Both were the same person, but how would the team ever know that?

"Imai. Imai… please stop," Ruka called.

She came to a slow halt. "What is it this time?" Her voice was tight. With anger, maybe? This would be a really bad subject to bring up right now, but he had to.

"I need to tell them," he said. "No, wait—let me talk. Look, what if they find you? I'm the only one that can understand you. What if you're caught, and I can't explain anything in time?"

And the search parties weren't the only ones. What if a student came wandering inside? What if they were like those two other students that talked to Ruka just earlier? From the look of it, they were trying to find a dragon. Hotaru. What did they even want from her?

But he'd asked himself this question before. It was pointless to go over it again when there were no definite answers.

"It's not worth it," Hotaru insisted.

"How could you say that!? This is your life—"

A sound from the trees. A rustle, too loud to be an animal.

"What was that?" Ruka whispered. Louder, he called out, "Who are you? Come out."

A drop. Feet hitting the ground. Sneakers squelching against the dirt. Clothes catching on the leaves. The faint scent of smoke.

"Ruka."

And out of the bushes stepped Natsume.


	7. Fight Fire With Fire

_And out of the bushes stepped—_

"Natsume?"

From Hotaru's shoulders, Natsume looked short. Puny, even. Ruka didn't like it, so he slipped off her back and stepped forward.

"Nastume, how did you—"

"I followed you by the trees." He pointed at Hotaru. "What is that, and why does it have Imai's eyes?"

"This is Natsume Hyuuga?" the dragon asked. She looked surprisingly calm. Then again, she usually did.

"Yeah, but he can't hear you," Ruka reminded her. He turned to his best friend and pointed to Hotaru. "This is Imai."

Natsume stared at her in a rare moment of shock, but then reverted to a glare. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I—"

"Stop. Tell me everything." Natsume's eyes slid between Ruka and Hotaru. "From the start."

Ruka looked up at Hotaru hopelessly. He didn't want to break a promise, but… this was Natsume, his best friend.

This was all his fault. Ruka should have told Natsume in the first place. It was easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. But Ruka thought he could handle Hotaru all on his own, and now this was happening.

To his surprise, Hotaru nodded. "Tell him everything. If you don't, he'll probably end up tattling."

Ruka doubted it, but complied anyways. They all sat down as he told the tale. The scaly creature in the forest. Spreading the message through Mikan. Meeting Hotaru. Trying to help her regain her memories. Going out on this trip to see her brother.

When it was done, Natsume looked straight at Hotaru. "Why didn't you want to tell anyone?"

Hotaru trained his gaze on him harshly. She didn't say anything. It wouldn't matter if she did. Only Ruka could hear her, and the blond knew that Hotaru wouldn't want him to repeat her answer. It wouldn't have the same impact.

"Try to put yourself in her shoes," Ruka said softly.

Natsume shot him a look. _When did you start emphasizing with the Ice Queen?_

Ruka looked away, because he wasn't sure himself.

The Fire Alice scowled, then trained his eyes back on Hotaru. "I get it. If I were you, I wouldn't want to go up to Mikan. I wouldn't want her look at me and see a monster."

_A monster._

Ruka was stricken. It was just like Natsume to state the blunt truth, but that was just harsh.

But Hotaru, like the Ice Queen she was titled, had no reaction. She didn't cringe. She didn't wince. She didn't even twitch. The only thing she showed was a frozen-hearted glare.

No… this wasn't right. What was going on? Why did this scenario seem so wrong? An image of her tiny smile passed through Ruka's mind. Where had that smile gone? This Hotaru was not the one he knew.

After what seemed like an eternity, Hotaru nodded slightly. Natsume copied her and looked back at Ruka.

"I won't tell Polka… Mikan yet." Natsume said. He scowled up at Hotaru. "She doesn't deserve to suffer because of you."

"I know," Hotaru said and Ruka translated.

They had another malevolent staring contest, probably trying to read each other, but Ruka wasn't sure. He felt like he was going to burst. At the last second, Natsume spoke up.

"You need to tell someone that can make you human, and soon."

"Tell him we need more time," Hotaru said icily.

"More time?" Ruka looked up at her. "What does that mean? I mean, how long?"

"A month, at least. That's thirty days. If I don't find a way to return human within that time, he can tell Mikan."

Ruka translated the message, but Natsume shook his head. "A week," he said.

"A month," Hotaru repeated.

Ruka frowned. "She's not budging."

Natsume narrowed his eyes. "It's not like you have a choice."

Hotaru's ears folded back. "I'm not up for bargaining, Hyuuga."

"U-uh… she really doesn't want to change it."

"Too bad."

In a split second, ten large claws pinned Natsume to the ground. Hotaru loomed over him. Her face was unmarred by emotion, but a guttural growl came from her throat.

"You know better than to argue with me, Hyuuga," she said, even though the boy couldn't hear her.

"Imai, no!" Ruka cried.

Hotaru didn't even spare him a glance.

Ruka looked desperately between the two. They glowered at each other with a radiating intensity. Hotaru Imai versus Natsume Hyuuga. It would be the match of the century, but Ruka wanted desperately for it not to happen, especially not under these circumstances.

Natsume grunted in exertion, but his strength was nothing compared to a dragon's weight. She just pressed down on him harder. He was stuck and Hotaru knew it.

He clenched the earth beneath him, and the grass in his fists grew charred. A ring of fire roared into existence above Hotaru's head. Sparks flew off her horns, but she didn't even bother to check them. She was fireproof, after all. Even her wings were protected. What could Natsume's Alice do against her?

Sweat began to bead down Natsume's forehead. He was gritting his teeth. Ruka pried his mouth open to shout for Natsume to stop, but then the fire burned out.

All efforts were futile. Both were unmovable, but neither could win. It could only end in a stalemate… or else, it would never end.

Ruka thought hard. What could he do? He couldn't just stand by. Right now he was just a dead weight.

Well… he understood both sides. Natsume didn't want Mikan to worry. Neither did Ruka. But there were just so many reasons for Hotaru to hide herself. Was she even the real Imai? Ruka believed that she was, but what if? Would she ever regain all her memories? Would the others help or harm?

But Mikan, Ruka realized, wouldn't care either way. No… Mikan would just be happy to know what happened to Hotaru. And as soon as the inventor turned back into a human, she'd be overjoyed. Mikan wasn't the kind of person to look at Hotaru, her best friend, her virtual _sister_, and see a monster. _Ever._

"Imai. Imai, listen to me."

Neither of them even bothered to look over.

"Imai… Imai… HOTARU!"

The dragon's head snapped towards him. "What?"

"He's right… Natsume's right. It doesn't matter if Sakura-san knows now or later that you're a dragon. She'll accept you either way. She'll never see you differently than what you are."

Her claws curled, and Natsume winced as they closed around his ribs. "Then, tell me Nogi. What am I?"

Ruka frowned in confusion. "You're a human, of course."

If looks could kill, Ruka would be frozen alive by now. "Are you an idiot? No, don't answer that question, it's too obvious. Look at me, Nogi. I have wings. I have a tail. I have claws and horns and scales. You need brain damage to truly think I'm a human."

"But you _are_ one," he insisted. "What kind of beast is able to think like that? What kind of non-human would ever Look at you, Imai—_Hotaru._ You're speaking to me right now—"

"With the animal language—"

"But I've never heard an animal speak with clearness like yours," Ruka said.

"Then I must be the first—"

"Why do you want to call yourself that so badly!?" he yelled. "You're a human, Hotaru! What, do you not _want_ to be!?"

"What the hell are you two talking about?" Natsume snarled.

Hotaru ignored him. In fact, she acted like he wasn't even there. She just walked away, releasing Natsume. She slinked towards Ruka and lifted a single claw.

"Can a human…"

Hotaru slowly ran it over his cheek. Ruka stood stock still, feeling the blood trail down his face, gather at his chin, and drip onto his collar. But he didn't care. The only thing he knew were those cold, unfeeling, _desperate_ eyes.

_Why, Hotaru? Why are you doing this?_

"…do that?"

Natsume swore ferociously. In a blur of black and red, he slammed right into Hotaru's side. In her startled state, the dragon actually fell over. She whipped her tail at his legs as she collapsed, tripping him. Natsume's face hit the ground. Ruka winced at both of them.

They got up at the same time, but Natsume was first to act. He snatched Ruka's arm. "Come on."

"No."

Ruka didn't know what possessed him to say that, but it didn't help. Natsume's grip hardened. "And leave you with this _thing_?"

"_She_ won't hurt me."

"_It_ just did."

"Please, Natsume. She won't anymore. Besides, you've hurt me a lot more than this before," Ruka almost-joked.

Surprisingly, Natsume let go. "Have fun getting eaten." Before Ruka could question why he was being so compliant, the black-haired boy had stalked into the shadows without a trace to be found.

The two remaining watched the spot where Natsume had parted the brush. Their labored breathing filled the night, then fanned out into the trees, leaving nothing but silence behind.

"Get on my back," Hotaru said a bit too softly.

Ruka turned around to see her crouching down. He didn't question her. He just rushed forward and leaped on her back. She rose before he had even settled in place, and he had to hold on tight when she began sprinting.

Hotaru ran and ran and ran. Ruka wasn't sure how far or long. All he knew was that she ran. For a split second he wondered, _did she ever go out on runs like this as a human?_

And then he realized it. He was wrong. No, Hotaru Imai wasn't a human. Not right now. Not in body. Her mind, definitely, but not the puppet her mind controlled.

But why was she so touchy about it? Ruka tried to imagine what it would be like. Kidnapped from his own skin, placed in a creature covered with scales. But then again… she didn't have any memories, either.

What would it be like? He'd only know fragments of his friends, basic knowledge of the world, and everything else would be based off of someone else's words.

If it were him, _he'd_ be scared of meeting his friends, too.

Ruka would have no idea what they were like. He would have no idea how they would react. Whether he could trust them. Whether they would still trust him. Meeting his friends would be like being thrown into another world.

Hotaru Imai didn't want to go out of her comfort zone.

And he understood that. But what _she_ had to understand was that she was making her friends worry. The question was, did she even care? He wanted to say yes, but he wasn't a mind reader, and Hotaru's mind was one of the hardest to read.

While he pondered, Hotaru had gone slower and slower. Ruka only noticed when she stopped. They were in the large, meadow-like clearing. Their meeting spot.

She crouched down. He got off. They walked to their spot on the almost-hill. They stood there and basked in the quiet. Just like any other day.

But this night, everything felt awry, out of place. The usual peace refused to settle right. Unrest skittered through the air. Ruka didn't like it at all.

Trying to think of something else, he looked up at the stars. He rarely went to this clearing at night. It was pretty far off from the Academy grounds, and the nocturnal animals didn't like it very much because it was so open.

It was just as beautiful at night as it was at day. The long grass was bathed in white rather than gold, but it still smelled of life. The trees were shadowed, but instead of creating an ominous feeling, it brought out the brightness of the moon. It was all so peaceful, Ruka almost convinced himself nothing was wrong.

Hotaru suddenly sat down. For once, Ruka sat close to her, and even went as far as to lean his head against her arm. Even with her body as cover, the wind bit at his fingers and nose. Her scales were icy against the cut on his cheek, but he didn't care.

"He won't tell anyone. I'll convince him to give you until the end of the month," he said.

"What makes you think he won't?"

"I just know."

Hotaru wasn't satisfied; he saw it in the way she held her shoulders. Her agitation was clear, but there was nothing else Ruka could say. It would have to do. They spent the next few minutes in silence, until he spoke up again.

"Are you angry at me?"

"Yes."

Ruka cringed. She was angry at him. He might as well go throw himself down a well at this point.

But then her wing swung forward, engulfing him like a shield, soft and rough at the same time. The hollow noises of the night were drowned out. The night breeze no longer burned against his skin. Ruka looked up questioningly.

Hotaru arched her neck and met his eyes. Her look was cold, but when she glanced at the cut on his cheek, she sighed.

"I'm sorry, too."

Well, that was definitely a surprise.

Ruka looked up, but Hotaru continued looking out at the sky. Here in the forest, the stars were brighter than ever. Ruka wondered if this was how she spent her nights alone.

"It was a mistake to do that." Her eyes skimmed over his cut again. "And in inventing…"

"I think there's a little room for mistakes," Ruka interrupted.

He actually managed to make her chuckle. Now this was the Hotaru he knew for the past week…

"Hey, why don't we do something? To cheer you up?"

She eyed him. "Why would I need cheering up, Nogi?"

Ruka shook his head and laughed. "Everyone needs cheering up once in a while. I need it too."

"Hm. What do you have in mind?"

"It's a surprise," he said with a little more enthusiasm than he felt. "Tomorrow morning's a Saturday, so I can come early. It'll be fun. I promise."

Hotaru rolled her eyes. Ruka was worried she'd rebuke, but then she said, "I don't see why not."

He smiled. "Then it's settled."

They fell silent after that, and Ruka leaned his head against her arm once again. To his surprise, Hotaru shifted slightly to give him a better angle. He smiled at that.

Ruka finally let his mind drift off, and as he watched the stars, the scales against his cheek began to feel warm.

* * *

**It's a little late, but I hope you enjoyed.**

**If you're wondering why this chapter and the last chapter were short, it's because they were originally one chapter all together. But I wanted a cliffhanger.**


	8. Specks of Gold

_Tap taaap… _

Ruka groaned at the noise. It had been going on for… how many minutes now? Maybe… two. Too many…

_Taaap tap taaap… tap…_

He tugged the pillow over his ears, but it didn't help. The noise was too sharp. He didn't even want to look at the clock. It didn't matter; it was too early…

_Tap taaap tap… tap tap taaap…_

"Oh, fine!" he cried, tossing everything off at once. He rolled out of bed, his body slamming full-force on the floor. That was how he usually tried to wake himself up really early in the morning.

Well, it worked.

Groaning, Ruka rubbed his temples and checked the clock, amazed to see that it was already about eleven in the morning. He headed to the window and tugged aside the curtains. The ever-cheery sun immediately greeted him, which meant he was blind for a full five seconds.

When his eyes finally adjusted, there was Natsume, hanging precariously off of Ruka's windowsill. He stared at him stoically. A small rock was clenched in his fist. There was a small crack where Natsume had been tapping the glass with it.

Ruka swung it open, and Natsume rolled onto the floor like one of those unrealistically fit video game characters. Disconcerted, the blond shut his window.

"What's up, Natsume?"

"Your hair," he replied.

Ruka tried to pat down his bed head and, well, failed. He looked up with a defeated sigh. "What's going on?" he repeated.

"You tell me. You were the one getting cuddly with the Ice Queen."

Ruka frowned. "What do you…" Then he remembered last night. "Oh. Wait, you were spying on us?"

"Following."

He just sighed. "Look, Natsume… can you—"

"No," Natsume said flatly. Obviously, he was expecting Ruka say something else, but that wasn't the case.

"—let me get changed before we talk about this?" Ruka finished.

Natsume sat on the bed, crossing his arms. Taking that as a yes, Ruka rushed into the bathroom to get ready. Change, brush teeth, comb hair. He usually took showers in the mornings, but he had already taken two yesterday, and Natsume was waiting on him.

As soon as he stepped out, Natsume went for the strike.

"I'm telling Polka."

"W-what!?" Ruka spluttered. "But—"

"I found her last night. Alone. Crying." Natsume's eyes burned with rage. "The air-headed imbecile told her about Imai's clothes. I should have told her then."

"Oh, no—please, Natsume—"

"But I saw Imai's wallet."

"W-what?"

Natsume pulled out a very familiar black wallet and tossed it down. Ruka kneeled to catch it. It bulged with size, and Ruka could only imagine how much yen was inside. Carefully, he pried it open.

Photos.

Photos filled it to the brim, photos of gleeful times and happy faces. Class photos, embarrassing photos, personal photos. Photos of their classmates. Photos of Natsume, more photos of Ruka (some of them weren't blackmail photos, to his surprise), and mostly photos of Mikan. There wasn't even any money. Just photos.

One stood out among the rest. It was a picture of just her and Mikan in the brunette's bedroom. In fact, the two were laying on her bed. Mikan was sleeping like a baby. Their hair was tousled and their pajamas were rumpled. There was a date on the bottom right, and Ruka recalled that was the day all the girls in his class threw a huge slumber party.

Hotaru's arm was barely visible, a black blur at the edge of the picture. It was obvious that she had taken the picture. On her face was the most miniscule of smiles. It was the only image of her with one.

And Ruka realized that maybe even the human Hotaru Imai had a heart.

For a moment, Ruka was confused. It was touching and all, but why would that stop Natsume? Then he realized what telling Mikan with those in hand could mean. If Hotaru the dragon wasn't actually Hotaru the human, then all those precious, personal photos would just become a collection of lies.

"You couldn't tell Sakura-san after seeing these, huh?"

"Hn."

"I wouldn't have been able to do it either."

"You're another story," Natsume mumbled.

"Hey, she's blackmailed me a whole lot more than you. If anything, I'd have more reason to tell Sakura her friend turned into… well… a huge, scaly animal."

Natsume raised an eyebrow. "What happened to how it was 'definitely human'? Unless that was just a warped monologue."

Ruka shook his head. "Not at all. I mean… she's a dragon in body, but a human in mind. You know?"

Natsume frowned. "It… _she_ wants to be human in everything."

Ruka looked away. "I figured that out. More than once."

Two weeks ago, Ruka would've called that absurd. Even now, Hotaru was more open as an amnesiac dragon, but it was hard to imagine she could have any amount of insecurity.

"I'm telling Polka, Ruka."

"Nat—"

"I didn't say when."

Ruka shut his mouth.

"I'll take the month. I can't bring that thing to Polka saying it's her best friend, then find out later it's not." Natsume pointed at the wallet. "Take out the photos of me or you in there."

"W-what? But this is Imai's—"

"You don't have any reason to defend her. She's brought you the most misery of all."

"But it's toned down—"

"She still spends a lot of her free time blackmailing you."

"It's her personal—"

"Because it's not like she's violated your privacy before," Natsume said sardonically.

"Fine! I'll give you your photos, but I don't care if she keeps mine."

Ruka yanked the photos out. He sorted through them, casting Natsume's pictures in a messy pile on the bed. The Fire Alice remained quiet as Ruka shut the wallet and placed it on his desk.

Natsume pocketed the photos and got to his feet. "One more thing, Ruka."

He looked up. "What is it?"

Natsume's eyes narrowed. "I trust you, but I don't trust it. You should get away from that thing." There was a rare tint of desperation in his voice, and both of them knew it. This was Natsume's last ditch effort.

But Ruka set his jaw and shook his head. "I won't. Natsume… I trust her. Please, if only for my sake, give her a chance, too."

Natsume's look darkened. He left the room without another word.

* * *

When Ruka arrived at the clearing, the first thing he did was walk up to Hotaru and bury his face in her neck. He clasped his hands around her spines. They bit into his palms like blunt scissors.

A low rumble came from deep from her throat, but he couldn't tell why. "And what do you think you're doing, Nogi?" It wasn't angry. Hotaru didn't even move away. She was in a neutral mood, it seemed.

"Don't wanna talk," he mumbled.

"Well, too bad."

"Mmph." He shook his head. "It didn't go well. I mean… you got your time, but Natsume's mad at me."

"Does it matter?"

"Of course it does. He's my best friend."

"Hmm."

His eyes were closed, but suddenly his perception of light was gone. The sound of moving fabric accompanied the sudden darkness. The tips of her wings touched his shoulder blades. It was an odd gesture, but Ruka appreciated it anyways.

"You're sure full of surprises, Imai," he said.

"Explain."

"You'd never do this before." His grip on her spines tightened. "You'd never even touch me. You'd never do anything but blackmail me. You'd never let me hug you like this."

"I wasn't aware this counted as a hug."

"Well, it does." Ruka was aware that he sounded whiny, but he didn't care.

If it annoyed Hotaru, she didn't show it. "For the record, Nogi, I'm not exactly your Hotaru Imai."

He went rigid, and craned his head up to meet her eyes. "What are you talking about?"

Her eyes were calm… like usual.

"I'm a dragon with no memories. I'm aware I act differently from when I was a human, at least in your company. Don't even try to argue about it, because I've been aware of it myself. What I remember tells me that. We've gone over this far too many times, but the possibility still stands: I may not even be your… 'friend'. These memories might not even be my own. I believe this has crossed your mind more than once."

It was all true. He did think about it too much, and it only led him in circles. But something, whether it was just a feeling or a stubborn sentiment, kept his belief strong. He truly thought this was Hotaru Imai. She only acted differently because of the circumstances. That… well, that was all.

"That's all I wanted to say," she echoed his thoughts. "Now, where did you want to take me?"

So she didn't want to talk about it anymore. That was okay, because Ruka didn't want to, either.

"Can I get on your back? It's a long way from here," he explained.

Hotaru crouched down and he climbed on. Ruka pointed her towards the north. She streaked through the shadows of the trees, noticeable only by the light of her scales.

As she ran, Ruka couldn't help but wonder. What if this happened to him? Turning into a dragon, losing his memories? Would he be acting similarly? Or was it really just some sort of hidden nature for Hotaru to do this? He couldn't help but think everyone would settle into a similar reaction. At the same time, Hotaru was definitely not everyone…

What might have been an hour passed. The forest melted sharply into rocks. Hotaru had to slow down, or else risk stepping on one of the more jagged stones. When they finally broke through the tree line, Ruka sneezed immediately, tackled by the dust Hotaru kicked up. She began to walk.

The sun seemed hotter here, mostly because the area was bare of shade. Ruka was acutely aware of this. At least he didn't have black hair. Black absorbed light and heat more than other colors, after all. He glanced at Hotaru's scales, but she didn't seem bothered.

They'd arrived at Rock Hill. Only… it wasn't really a hill. It was obviously made out of stone, too steep to be a hill, but far too short to be a mountain. When they reached it, Ruka jumped off and rubbed his abdomen. He hadn't quite gotten used to that one spine that dug into his stomach.

Ruka spotted a small trail heading up the mini-mountain. He'd gotten used to climbing it, but could Hotaru manage?

"See that trail?" He pointed to it.

"It's narrow."

"Do you think you can climb it?"

She stared at it for a moment, calculating its size and slope, Ruka assumed. Then she raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you calling me fat, Bunny Boy?"

"What? No! Where did—why—"

"Take a joke, Nogi. I'll be fine."

Ruka stopped, shut his mouth, then sighed through his nose. "Okay, okay. Let's try it out."

He went first, clambering up the time-worn rocks without kicking too many down. But Hotaru was unused to the path. Many of the stones she walked on toppled far to the ground.

"She's probably heard you by now," Ruka muttered.

"'She'? You're taking me to see one of your 'friends', aren't you?"

Ruka laughed nervously. Hotaru sent him one of her deadly but calm glares, but they both knew she couldn't go back now. The path was too narrow for her to head back unless she wanted to walk backwards.

After a couple of tripping incidents, the two finally got to the middle of the mini-mountain. But that was all they had to climb. The path ended there, leading up to an indent in the huge, rocky hill. A classic cliff and cave.

"Do they use this in movies?" Hotaru asked skeptically.

"Actually, it's man-made. Well, Alice made. I don't know who did it, but it's their home, now," Ruka said.

"Well then, Nogi. Who is—"

A great shriek erupted from the depths of the cavern. Before Hotaru could even turn her head, a light brown blur sped from the darkness, bowling straight into the dragon. Two feathered wings batted at Hotaru, and eight enormous talons locked around her ribs.

"No! Speckles, stop it!"

The attacker's cries came to an abrupt stop. It released Hotaru, taking an unsure step back. When the dragon tried getting up, the assailant snapped its beak angrily.

It was a giant eagle. She had a light belly and a tawny back, which was littered with numerous brown dots. It wasn't hard to figure out why Ruka named her Speckles.

"Speckles, this is Hotaru Imai. She's nothing you have to worry about," Ruka said.

"_Scales like snake! Snakes eat eggs for breakfast!"_ the eagle cried. It communicated through a series of vocal sounds and beak-snapping.

"Imai's not a snake. She's a human, but she looks like a dragon."

"_Dragon like snake! Snake eats eggs for—"_ The eagle paused. _"Imai? Evil picture girl?"_

Ruka broke out in a cold sweat. He waved his hands wildly. "No! She's not evil! She doesn't even take pictures! Well, at least not right now…"

"_Why is picture girl here?"_ Speckles asked.

Ruka sighed. There was no changing an eagle's mind. Why was everything he befriended so stubborn? At least she didn't call Hotaru evil this time.

"This eagle is an idiot." Hotaru looked straight at it. "Doesn't it know that it just _told_ me it has eggs?"

"She," Ruka corrected. "Imai, meet Speckles. Speckles, meet Imai."

The eagle looked confused. _"Hotaru Imai or only Imai?"_

"I don't care what i—_she_ calls me. What was the point in bringing me here, Nogi?" Hotaru demanded.

"Oh, uh—I was going to ask Speckles to teach you to fly."

"…no." Hotaru turned around and began walking down the path.

But Speckles wasn't taking that. Before Ruka could intervene, the eagle sprung off the cliff. She fell a couple feet before rising high up in the air, circling around to dive upon Hotaru. Speckles' talons closed once more around the dragon.

"Nogi, tell your bird to put me down," Hotaru said tightly.

Speckles chortled from above. _"I will teach Imai dragon. Good practice for teaching chicks."_

Ruka beamed. "Thanks so much, Speckles."

Hotaru glared. "I don't remember agreeing to this."

But somehow, Ruka knew she would anyways.

* * *

"_No, no… wings too tight! Nooo!"_ Speckles looked desperately at Ruka. _"Tell Imai dragon to be less stiff."_

"I'm not the one with the wings here," he said.

"_Pleeaaaaaaase…"_

"I thought mothers were supposed to be mature and patient," Hotaru mumbled.

"_I'm not mother yet! Give me chance!"_

The eagle walked over. Hotaru jumped away as the giant bird reached out with an equally giant talon.

"_Give me chance,"_ the eagle repeated. Hotaru stayed still as she attempted to readjust her wing. Of course, it didn't work.

"_Wings strange," _Speckles complained. _"Not bird's. Not bat's. Tiny scales. Strange."_

"Do you think Goldflakes would have better luck teaching her?" Ruka suggested.

Hotaru stared at him. "Goldflakes?"

"Her partner. Where do you think Speckles got her eggs from, a giant stork?"

"Don't get snippy with me."

"_Stop fighting! No Goldflakes needed! I got this!"_ Speckles cried.

"This bird better live up to its words soon, Nogi."

"I know, I know! Maybe Goldflakes—"

Speckles shook her head wildly. _"No Goldflakes!"_

"_What about me?"_

All three of them looked up when an enormous shadow shrouded them. A rush of wind blew against the rock face. The batting of thick-feathered wings filled the air. Brown swamped Ruka's vision as an eagle descended to the cliff, a dead sheep dangling precariously from his talons.

Goldflakes looked quite different from Speckles. For one, he was simply colossal, far bigger now than when Ruka met him as a chick back in elementary school. His orange eyes were always sternly glaring, and his plumage was an earthly brown. But in direct sunlight, his feathers glowed with specks of gold.

"Poor sheep…" Ruka muttered.

"_Dead already. Old age."_

"Oh."

But at that moment, Hotaru turned to Ruka. "Look, Nogi. I don't see any reason to do this. I have no need to waste my time on flight when it may not even be possible. I'm far too heavy for it. I doubt it's aerodynamically possible."

"Hey, bumblebees can fly, and they're not supposed to be able to," Ruka pointed out. "You might need to fly in the future. That's one thing you might be able to do that everyone except Kitsuneme can't."

"…Kitsuneme?"

"Someone in our class. Anyways, you might as well try, right?" he reasoned. "We don't have much else to do but lay around. And there's nothing to investigate this time of day."

"_What is this snake thing?"_ Goldflakes interrupted. Hotaru gave it a dark look.

"Her name's Hotaru Imai, and she's not a snake. She's a human that looks like a dragon," Ruka said.

Goldflakes looked at Hotaru with disdain. _"It is like snake. I do not like snakes."_ Then, he paused. _"Imai? Evil picture girl?"_

"I can barely understand them, but this conversation sounds very familiar," Hotaru said.

"_Imai dragon hard to teach,"_ Speckles whined. _"Chicks this hard?"_

"_No."_ Goldflakes surveyed Hotaru carefully. _"Strange wings. Strange shape."_

"_Heavy,"_ Speckles added. _"Can Imai dragon fly?"_

"_We are heavy. We can fly. Therefore Imai dragon can fly."_ Goldflakes pointed forward with a single great talon. _"Imai dragon go try fly."_

"Logical fallacies. That's like saying Nogi and I both have Alices, so we both must be able to invent."

But Goldflakes was a hard one to convince. This was made obvious as the bigger eagle nudged Hotaru towards the edge of the cliff.

"Big fliers need a strong jump and sometimes a running start. Beginners need a high place," Ruka translated. Goldflakes flapped his titanic wings for demonstration. "Keep your wings straight. Not too stiff, or the air won't catch. Flap your wings hard, or you won't rise."

To Ruka's relief, Hotaru followed his lead. She spread her own wings as a small breeze went by, ruffling their folds. Her eyes closed, and Ruka could only call her expression peaceful.

"_Run and jump."_

Hotaru's eyes snapped back open. "That's a death wish. I haven't even—"

"_I will catch you when you fall."_

Regardless of the 'when', Hotaru backed up deeper towards the cave. Speckles watched in mixed apprehension and irritation, mostly due to being outshined.

In three seconds flat, Hotaru sprinted forward. Her claws dug into earth, and she flung herself from the rock face without hesitation. It was an incredible sight. A mere moment after she left the ground, she twisted in the air. It would have looked graceful if she wasn't falling to her doom.

But Goldflakes was true to his word. The giant eagle sprang off the cliff, catching Hotaru in his grip several feet before she could hit the ground. He flew back and deposited the dragon near the cave.

"_Again."_

Hotaru wasn't deterred at all. This time, when she ran off the cliff, she managed to stay in the air for a few seconds. But Goldflakes wasn't impressed.

"_You didn't flap,"_ he chided.

Hotaru didn't display the slightest hint of frustration. She kept trying again… and again… and again. Ruka thought she'd like to try flying, but he didn't expect her to be so motivated in mastering it. Did it really feel that great to fly?

Soon enough, Speckles began to bother Ruka. The female eagle got bored far too easily.

She chirruped in his ear, _"Take nap with my eggs?"_

Ruka's eyes widened. "No, it's okay. I'm not that tired."

"_But it's lonely,"_ she said sadly. _"Please?"_

Ruka shot a distressed look at Goldflakes, but the male eagle was too absorbed in teaching Hotaru. Great. He was the only one able to handle Speckles when she got a crazy idea. Before he could protest, Speckles had picked Ruka up by the collar and was carrying him to her nest.

"Can't… breathe," he said as he choked.

"_Sorry."_ She dropped him right in the middle of her next. Ruka landed with a grunt. He moved to stand, but Speckles pushed him back down. _"Sleep?"_

"I'm not really—"

"_I will wake you when Imai dragon is finished. It takes much time to learn flight,"_ Speckles said. _"Please sleep. It is practice for my chicks!"_

"Well… alright. If it's practice…"

Ruka laid down near the giant eggs. They were warm and smooth, and he swore he could hear tiny chirps from beyond the shells. He curled up, closed his eyes and smiled. There was no nicer sound…

* * *

When he woke up, Ruka was acutely aware of what he could feel. His watch was a notch too tight. There was an uncomfortable pressure on his hip. And there was something very smooth touching his arm.

When he opened his eyes, he almost jumped right out the nest. Curled up a few feet away was the sleeping Hotaru. Her tail slipped off his arm as he rose.

"Goldflakes? Speckles?" he called out in a hush.

The male eagle loomed over the nest. _"Fell asleep. Very tired."_

"Oh." Ruka glanced back at Hotaru. "Did she learn how to fly?"

"_Somewhat."_

It was better than nothing, he supposed. Ruka squinted at his watch… it was 1PM. He'd been napping for three whole hours. This nest had to have some sort of sleeping magic.

"I need to do my laundry," he mumbled. "Oh, where's Speckles?"

"_Fell asleep. Very tired."_

Ruka looked behind him. Speckles' head lolled at the edge of her nest. Drool seeped out of her beak. He chuckled at the sight.

"Goldflakes, I have to get back to the Academy grounds to do something." He peered back at Hotaru. There was no sense in waking her up. "Do you think you could fly me there?"

"_Yes."_

The eagle waddled deep into the cave. When he came back, a large yellow ring was clenched in his right talons. It clinked against the ground where he walked.

"Thanks a lot, Goldflakes. Oh, and can you tell Hotaru I left once you come back?"

"_Yes."_ The giant eagle paused. _"She is bad communicator, but smart. Good learner."_

"That's good. Did she give you too much trouble?"

"_No. Good practice for chicks."_ He raised the yellow circle. _"Fly now?"_

Ruka smiled. "Yeah, that sounds good."

* * *

**Fun facts: Natsume's tapping was actually morse code. It'd make some sense for him to know it. Also, it's in Japanese. And Goldflakes is the eagle from Ruka's first appearance in episode 2. **

**Having trouble visualizing any sizes and stuff? Well, I have a size chart for you. Simply go to my profile and you'll find the link there.**

**Also, I'm being… restricted… for an undetermined length, so I can barely get on here during the weekdays. So, apologies if anything is slow.**

**PS. I'm really sorry if you got an email and saw the title was "What the I don't like swear words D:" and the description wasn't updated. Ignore it, I was just playing with the title and accidentally hit the Enter button.**


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